Netflix’s ‘K-Pop Demon Hunters’ is poised to be the biggest movie in theaters right now.
A singalong version of Netflix’s animated film “KPop Demon Hunters” is expected to earn between $18 million and $20 million at the box office this weekend, making it the highest-grossing film domestically. This is particularly impressive as it’s only screening on Saturday and Sunday.
This isn’t the first time a streaming title has topped box office sales. Earlier this summer, Apple’s “F1” (distributed in U.S. theaters by Warner Bros.) had a strong debut of $57 million. However, this is the first time that Netflix has released the top-grossing film in theaters.
It’s worth mentioning that Netflix does not disclose box office figures. As a result, these figures are early weekend estimates from various industry sources rather than official numbers from the streaming platform.
The weekend was relatively quiet, lacking major new releases. Besides “KPop Demon Hunters,” the next highest-grossing film was “Weapons,” which brought in about $15.4 million in its third weekend, raising its domestic total to $115 million.
This achievement is a significant milestone for a company that has generally avoided traditional theatrical releases, a choice that may have limited some of its most celebrated filmmakers. The closest it came to a major theatrical release was with Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” sequel “Glass Onion,” which made approximately $15 million in theaters during a limited one-week run. Looking ahead, Greta Gerwig’s forthcoming “Narnia” adaptation is expected to do even better when it debuts exclusively on IMAX screens next fall.
This is also a notable triumph for a film that has been available for streaming since late June, as it has already climbed to the number two position on Netflix’s all-time most-viewed films list, with over 210 million views, ranking between “Red Notice” and “Carry-On” on that list.
Produced by Sony Pictures Animation with a predominantly Korean/Korean American voice cast, “KPop Demon Hunters” tells the story of a K-Pop girl group that takes on demons, including a rival boy band. The song “Golden” from the film’s soundtrack has reached the top of the Billboard charts and garnered over 400 million streams on Spotify.
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In line with its established policy of not screening films without an exclusive theatrical window, AMC Theatres opted not to show the singalong version of “KPop Demon Hunters,” although it was the only major chain to take this position.


