Netflix Scores Its First No.1 Box Office Hit with KPop Demon Hunters
The movie brought in $18 million in one weekend.
Netflix just pulled off something no one thought possible: its first-ever box office win in the company’s 18-year history. And the champion is none other than the animated K-pop spectacle KPop Demon Hunters.
Over the August 23–24 weekend, the film raked in an estimated $18 million in ticket sales, with some rival studios suggesting the number could climb as high as $20 million. The film screened in about 1,750 theaters worldwide, despite AMC (North America’s largest theater chain) refusing to play ball.
For years, Netflix has been Hollywood’s disruptor, championing streaming while shrugging off the allure of theaters. But with KPop Demon Hunters, a film it acquired from Sony Pictures, Netflix leaned into the big-screen experience, staging sing-along screenings that turned cinemas into buzzing concert halls.
David A. Gross of FranchiseRe called it “a completely unique two-day musical event,” noting that theaters even added extra capacity on demand.
The story centers on Huntr/x, a superstar K-pop trio (Rumi, Mira, and Zooey) who moonlight as demon hunters, battling a rival boy band of supernatural impostors. With its blend of K-pop energy, mythology, and dazzling visuals, the film has cemented itself as one of summer’s most unexpected cultural phenomena.
Zach Cregger’s horror smash Weapons remained formidable, earning $15.6 million in its third weekend and passing the $100 million global mark. Disney’s Freakier Friday came in at $9.2 million, while The Fantastic Four: First Steps continued its gradual decline with $5.9 million.
For an industry still recovering from post-pandemic lulls, these summer weekends matter more than just dollar signs. Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore summed it up best: “The goodwill generated by people having these great summer moviegoing experiences might be a more important metric than just bottom-line dollars and cents.”
Kelechi Edeh
