IFC recently modified the release structure of one of its newest films, thanks to increasing online traffic. Good Boy will be running on more screens in the wake of a successful trailer. 

As the title would suggest, Good Boy follows the life of a dog as he and his owner move to a new house. Upon arriving and settling into their new territory, the titular canine quickly learns that there’s something wrong with the house, pushing him to rely fully on his instincts if he wants to keep his beloved human safe. 

Directed, co-produced, and co-written by Ben Leonberg, the cast includes Shane Jensen, Larry Fessenden, Arielle Friedman, as well as Leonberg’s own dog, Indy, playing the titular role. 

Debuting at South By Southwest, both IFC and Shudder, which have teamed up to help multiple independent horror projects in the past, will be bringing the film to theater screens. Nearly a week after the trailer debuted on IFC’s YouTube, it already managed to gather 2 million views and 24 thousand likes, leading to their original rollout plan to be expanded even more than intended, as IndieWire reported. 

As Bleeding Cool points out, however, expanding a theatrical rollout thanks to internet popularity hasn’t always guaranteed a great turnout. Several movies in the past, with a recent example being Morbius, would end up becoming a hot topic online, especially thanks to jokes and memes. But once Sony saw it and decided to capitalize on it, they saw little to no success with it. 

Bleeding Cool did make sure to note that the situation with Good Boy isn’t absolutely set to have a Morbius-style fate. The main reason they highlight is the budget, especially bearing in mind that Morbius was a Sony/Marvel tentpole, while Good Boy runs with the traditional lower budget that comes with an independent film. 

Good Boy hits theaters this October.