Is the animated movie sensation KPop Demon Hunters a unicorn or the beginning of a beautiful new friendship between Netflix and theater owners?
Most in Hollywood are betting on the former despite the fact that a special two-day sing-along event of the hit animated movie could earn as much as $18 million to $20 million from 1,700 North American theaters, according to exhibition sources and rival studios with access to certain data. Since Netflix — which has a turbulent relationship with exhibitors — refuses to report box offices, no one will ever know the actual number. On Sunday, Netflix declined to comment.
That means that New Line and Warner Bros.’ horror sensation Weapons will be listed as the official winner of the Aug. 22-24 frame with $15.6 million in its third outing for a horrifyingly impressive global cume of nearly $200 million, or $199.4 million through Sunday. (And it’s always possible Weapons could be the actual winner if Demon Hunters comes in lower than anticipated.)
Since debuting in June on the streamer, Kpop Demon Hunters has fast become a cultural phenomenon. It’s well on its way to becoming No. 1 on Netflix’s list of most popular English-language films after already soaring to the top of the animated list, while its soundtrack has spent several weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart, with several of its songs, led by “Golden,” also shooting to the top of the charts.
Only AMC Theatres, the country and world’s largest circuit, refused to play the sing-along in keeping with its general policy of not playing movies that are in the home. Regal Cinemas and Cinemark Theatres — the country’s two largest circuits behind AMC Theatres — along with Alamo Drafthouse and numerous other circuits were all game to grab a piece of the action.
The clever, original storyline centers on the adventures of Huntr/x, a trio comprised of K-pop superstars Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong) and Zooey (Ji-young Yoo) who use their secret identities as badass demon hunters to protect their fans from an ever-present supernatural threat. Together, they must face their biggest enemy yet — an irresistible rival boy band of demons in disguise.
Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans directed the animated feature for Sony Pictures Animation, based on a screenplay by Danya Jimenez, Hannah McMechan, Kang and Appelhans. The project ultimately landed at Netflix as part of a larger deal with Sony Pictures.
Netflix movie chief Lin recently told THR that Netflix is always “looking for powerful new stories, refreshing new voices and daring new approaches” in their films. “KPDH is a perfect example of this approach,” he says, adding that he and Netflix’s head of animation, Hannah Minghella, are “thrilled to be supporting Maggie and Chris as filmmakers and Kristine Belson and her team at Sony Animation” as their studio partner.
The original songs for KPop Demon Hunters were performed by EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI, Andrew Choi, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee, Neckwav and Lea Salonga, while Jeongyeon, Jihyo and Chaeyoung performed their own original song.
Tech giants taking on Hollywood legacy studios made headlines all the way around over the late-August weekend as Apple Original Film’s record-breaking F1: The Original Movie achieved a remarkable milestone in zooming past the $600 million mark globally. Unlike Netflix, Apple is now giving select titles a traditional theatrical run, such as F1, which is Brad Pitt’s biggest film of all time. Sans its own distribution apparatus, Apple must rely on third-party partners. In this case, it was Warners.
More to come.
