A two-day sing-along theatrical engagement has given Netflix its first North American weekend box office crown, as KPop Demon Hunters grossed an estimated $18m haul according to sources – though not Netflix, who never report ticket sales.
The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it weekend run for the animated phenomenon that is on its way to becoming Netflx’s most popular English-language film of all time on the platform played in leading chains except the biggest – AMC – in accordance with that company’s policy of not exhibiting films that are playing in the home.
The film screened in 1,300 North American cinemas (and also played in the UK & Ireland and Australia and New Zealand). Netflix said on Sunday it will debut the sing-along version on the platform on Monday (August 25). Arden Cho, May Hong, Ken Jeong lead the voice cast and Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans directed.
Reports from rival studios and sources came up with the estimated gross for the Sony Pictures Animation feature about an all-girl K-Pop band who hunt demons and face off against a demonic boy band.
EntTelligence reported more than 1.5m attendees for the PG13-rated film. Average standard US tickets cost $13.63 and premium large formats cost $16.31. Per EntTelligence, admissions comprised 82% standard and 18% premium.
Red Notice currently ranks as the streamer’s most popular film ever on 230.9m views, followed by KPop Demon Hunters on 210.5m.
Will Netflix change its theatrical strategy?
So will the unprecedented chart-topping success persuade Netflix to change its strategy and stage longer theatrical runs, and report numbers?
No chance, based on what the streamers’ top executives have said repeatedly about the subject. The company’s value proposition lies in stay-at-home entertainment for its subscribers. Theatrical is merely a promotional uplift and the company will do so again later this year on a string of potential awards contenders.
These include Noah Baumbach’s drama Jay Kelly starring George Clooney, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein led by Oscar Isaac, and Kathryn Bigelow’s ensemble White House thriller A House Of Dynamite, which all premiere in Venice in the coming days. They open, respectively, in select cinemas on November 14 before debuting on the platform on December 5; October 17 cinemas and November 7 platform; and undated October theatrical and October 24 on the service.
Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery premieres in TIFF next month before a November theatrical release and December 12 platform debut.
Comscore did not report KPop Demon Hunters as number one, instead awarding the weekend to New Line/Warner Bros’ horror breakout Weapons, which stands at $115.9m after a strong 36.2% decline in the third weekend resulted in a $15.6m gross from 3,631 locations. The film will cross $200m worldwide on Monday.
Conscore data
The three-day box office session generated approximately $60,1m according to Comscore, which rises to around $78m including KPop Demon Hunters. Year-to-date box office of $5.9bn is 5% ahead of 2024 by the same stage, although fewer releases over summer compared to last year means the season’s box office will not cross $4bn. Next weekend brings the final weekend of summer over the Labor Day holiday session.
After Weapons, Disney’s Freakier Friday dropped an encouraging 35.6% in its third session on $9.2m for a $70.5m running total, while Disney/Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys 2 have earned $257.3m and $66.2m, respectively.
Focus Features opened Ethan Coen’s dark comedy and out of competition Cannes Midnight selection Honey Don’t in ninth place on $3m from 1,317 locations, which the studio said was in line with expectations. Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, and Chris Evans star.
Two titles that premiered in 2024 TIFF opened over the weekend. David Mackenzie’s thriller Relay starring Riz Ahmed arrived via Bleecker Street at number 11 on $1.9m from 1,483.
Meanwhile Vertical debuted Ron Howard’s survival thriller Eden featuring Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby, Ana de Armas, Daniel Bruhl, and Sydney Sweeney in 14th place on just over $1m from 664 sites. The film took a long time to find a US buyers – mediocre reviews did not help to stimulate a US distributor pool that continues to be hesitant. However the relatively small run for a film boasting a killer ensemble is designed to promote the film before it goes to digital platfoms in 30 days. Co-financier AGC Studios licenced multiple territories to Prime Video and closed deals with top-tier international indies in Cannes last year.
A24 released the English-language dubbed version of the Chinese box office smash Ne Zha 2 and it returned to cinemas at number 13 on $1.5m, boosting the film’s running total to $22.4m. Michelle Yeoh stars in the new voice cast.
Neon opened its Cannes Premiere selection Splitsville starring Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Kyle Marvin, and director Michael Covino. It arrived at number 19, earning $105,572 from five sites for a $21,114 average.
Mubi debuted its Sundance premiere Lurker, about a creepy young man who obsesses over a rising pop star, on four screens for $64,436 and a $16,109 average. The Bear and Beef writer-producer Alex Russell directed.
Playing in New York and Los Angeles, the psychological thriller expands into Austin, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco this week with additional runs in New York and Los Angeles, before expanding nationwide on September 5. Théodore Pellerin and Archie Madekwe star.
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