{"id":172229,"date":"2025-08-24T17:27:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T17:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/172229\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T17:27:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T17:27:09","slug":"kpop-demon-hunters-leads-box-office-over-weapons-in-theatrical-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/172229\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Kpop Demon Hunters’ Leads Box Office Over ‘Weapons’ in Theatrical Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIn a box office twist, a film from the theatrical-averse Netflix<\/a> appears to be No. 1 on North American charts. \u201cKpop Demon Hunters<\/a>,\u201d a sing-along version of the hit animated musical, is estimated to have earned $18 million to $20 million on Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n

\n\tNetflix isn\u2019t reporting grosses, but projections from rival studios and exhibitors would put ticket sales for \u201cKpop Demon Hunters\u201d ahead of those for \u201cWeapons<\/a>,\u201d which was expected to claim first place and looks to earn a strong $15.6 million from 3,631 North American theaters in its third weekend of release.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cKpop Demon Hunters\u201d is playing on 1,700 screens (that\u2019s more than double the theater count for the streamer\u2019s \u201cGlass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery\u201d in 2022) with roughly 1,150 sold-out showings, according to knowledgable sources. That \u201cKpop Demon Hunters,\u201d a fantasy adventure about a Kpop girl group protecting the world from demons with their music, is available on the big screen at all is rare \u2014 and not just because it\u2019s backed by Netflix, which doesn\u2019t prioritize theatrical. (Sony Pictures Animation produced the film, directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans.)<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s also unusual because \u201cKpop Demon Hunters\u201d isn\u2019t new; the movie debuted on Netflix about two months ago. But in the time since, it has become the second-most watched film ever on the platform while three of the film\u2019s original tunes \u2014 \u201cGolden,\u201d \u201cYour Idol\u201d and \u201cSoda Pop\u201d \u2014 are currently in the top 10 of Billboard\u2019s Hot 100 chart. Though it\u2019s a boon for theaters during a painfully slow weekend, that\u2019s not why Netflix brought \u201cKpop Demon Hunters\u201d to multiplexes. The streaming behemoth is hoping that excitement will drive fans back to the platform for re-watches (or the inevitable sequel). AMC Theatres, the world\u2019s largest circuit, is the only major chain that isn\u2019t playing \u201cKpop Demon Hunters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFor 48 hours, this made-for-television film is playing to sold-out audiences who are singing, dancing, dressing up and losing themselves in the fun. That\u2019s pop entertainment at its best,\u201d says analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. \u201cThere is no CinemaScore, but audiences, particularly kids, love this movie. That\u2019s why it\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAlthough \u201cWeapons\u201d likely won\u2019t finish in first place after all, the scary movie has achieved sleeper hit status with $115.9 million domestically and $199 million globally. The $38 million-budgeted film is the latest theatrical hit for director Zach Cregger, whose last film \u201cBarbarian\u201d became a quiet success for Disney in 2022 with $45 million. And it\u2019s the sixth consecutive winner for Warner Bros. following \u201cA Minecraft Movie,\u201d \u201cSinners,\u201d \u201cFinal Destination Bloodlines,\u201d \u201cF1: The Movie\u201d (which the studio distributed for Apple) and \u201cSuperman.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRight now the overall box office is 5.1% ahead of last year \u2014 a margin that has been rapidly shrinking over the past few months. By comparison, revenues in early June were 25% ahead of 2024. After a slower end to summer, the all-important season will fall short of the elusive $4 billion mark. Ticket sales are currently at $3.5 billion from May through late August, the four-month stretch that\u2019s regularly the busiest of the year for the movie theater business. Only once since the pandemic has the summer season managed to surpass $4 billion, a benchmark that was common before COVID disrupted the industry. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is one of the slowest weekends of the year as we head into the final week and a half of the summer,\u201d says senior Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. \u201cIt\u2019s not great news in terms of the summer revenue outlook.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, he notes, \u201cThe bright spot is that \u2018Weapons\u2019 continues its impressive run, as does \u2018Freakier Friday,\u2019 with both enjoying strong holds in their third weekends of release.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDisney\u2019s \u201cFreakier Friday\u201d likely placed third with $9.1 million in its third weekend, a scant 36% drop from the prior weekend. The PG sequel, reuniting Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis as mother and daughter who swap places, has earned $70 million in North America and $113 million worldwide to date. Those ticket sales are trailing the 2003 original, \u201cFreaky Friday,\u201d which earned $160 million (not adjusted for inflation) but it\u2019s a promising turnout for a theatrical comedy in the current box office landscape. <\/p>\n

\n\tThis weekend\u2019s only new nationwide release, Ethan Coen\u2019s dark comedy \u201cHoney Don\u2019t!\u201d landed at No. 8 with a soft $3 million from 1,317 venues. Opening weekend crowds were largely female (56%) female while nearly 70% were over the age of 25. Margaret Qualley,\u00a0Aubrey Plaza,\u00a0Chris Evans and\u00a0Charlie Day star in the film about a small-town private investigator who delves into a series of strange deaths that are tied to a mysterious church. \u201cHoney Don\u2019t!\u201d is the second installment in what Coen calls a \u201clesbian B-movie trilogy\u201d following 2024\u2019s \u201cDrive Away Dolls.\u201d That film, which also starred Qualley and also garnered mixed reviews, failed to connect at the box office with $2.4 million in its debut and under $8 million globally by the end of its run.<\/p>\n

\n\tElsewhere, A24 re-released an English version of China\u2019s blockbuster smash \u201cNe Zha II,\u201d but excitement didn\u2019t translate to the States. The film, which boasts Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh among the English-language voice cast, grossed a tepid $1.5 million from 2,228 theaters, marking one of the worst starts this year for a movie in wide release. Of course, \u201cNe Zha II\u201d doesn\u2019t exactly need the North American coinage; the sequel has already shattered all kinds of box office records in the rest of the world with $2.1 billion to date.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs the summer season grinds to a near halt, several holdover titles rounded out the top five. Disney\u2019s Marvel adventure \u201cThe Fantastic Four: First Steps\u201d remained in fourth with $5.9 million in its fifth weekend of release. After a promising $117 million bow, \u201cFantastic Four\u201d didn\u2019t have much staying power with ticket sales at $257 million in North America and $490 million worldwide. The movie is far outselling this year\u2019s prior Marvel entries, February\u2019s \u201cCaptain America: Brave New World\u201d ($415 million globally) and May\u2019s \u201cThunderbolts*\u201d ($382 million globally). But it\u2019s not quite the return to box office form that many were predicting for the once-untouchable Marvel Cinematic Universe.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Bad Guys 2\u201d again took fifth place with $5.1 million in its fourth frame. Universal and DreamWorks Animation\u2019s heist comedy has generated $66 million domestically and $149 million globally. By comparison, 2022\u2019s original \u201cBad Guys\u201d was a slow-and-steady hit with $250 million over the course of its entire run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a box office twist, a film from the theatrical-averse Netflix appears to be No. 1 on North…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":172230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[171,30075,4659,67,132,68,9826],"class_list":{"0":"post-172229","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-kpop-demon-hunters","10":"tag-netflix","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us","14":"tag-weapons"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115084921856352778","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}