Courtesy of IFC Films

As we predicted on Friday, Superbad, the greatest movie in history, dick-joked its way past the competition to become the weekend's highest-grossing film, pulling in more than $31 million. But to what — apart from the fact that both of your Vulture editors saw it 1.5 million times each — can we attribute to its success?

Thankfully, Hollywood's preeminent obvious-explainer Paul Dergarabedian is on the case: "The Apatow comedy machine itself is a brand now," he told the AP. "And it's a brand that has created movies that appeal to older audiences who now follow whatever he does, even in the teen genre, which is very unusual."

That's right, Judd Apatow, famed creator of Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, was somehow able to convince his fan base to see a movie about teenagers. Remarkable, really.