How a 74-minute collection of online cat videos beat an Anthony Bourdain biopic and Meghan and Harry’s cookie doc

While Spider-Man and Odysseus ruled movie theaters over the weekend, one surprise film that snuck in at No. 10 at the box office was “CatVideoFest 2026.”

The 74-minute collection of online cat clips even outperformed A24’s new Anthony Bourdain biopic, “Tony,” (which, to be fair, only opened on six screens) and a Meghan Markle and Prince Harry-produced Girl Scouts documentary, “Cookie Queens” in theaters. 

“CatVideoFest 2026” hails from Seattle-based filmmaker Will Braden, who combs through over 15,000 kitty clips online to curate the collection. (Even the movie’s IMDB page says the film stars, “a bunch of cats.”)

The cat video series has been coming out for years, but had its best opening over the weekend, with $568,414 from 255 screens for a robust $2,229 per screen average. (By comparison, Markle and Harry’s doc had a $735 per screen average on 446 screens for an opening of $327,797.)

The cat fest is distributed by Oscilloscope Laboratories, the hip company created by late Beastie Boy Adam Yauch in 2008.

But why would audiences show up in droves to theaters to watch cat videos they can see on their phones?

“It’s a fair question,” the film’s director mused to us on Monday. “I’d love to say it’s all my curation: I do want to work hard for people to feel like it’s not just the algorithm clicking next, next, next.” 

But Braden adds that when people see the cat clips communally, “They’re like, ‘I’m with my people.’ They can have a whole bunch of laughs, and raise money [some showings have a charity component]. It’s because the experience is unmatched. You have Radiohead on Spotify, but you don’t say, ‘Why see them in concert?'”

Theaters are even adding shows as the cat craze grows. International markets are also screening the movie as Hollywood studios continue to make few G-rated movies for all audiences these days. Says Braden of the decline, “It’s like Taylor Swift, Pixar and us.”

The film’s so popular, the director’s own cat, Nin, has learned to be desensitized to the sounds of meowing when the director combs through the clips.