For the First Time in History, Netflix Has #1 at the Box Office

Netflix is about to hit a milestone it has never reached before. For the first time, one of its films is set to take the number one spot at the box office. The movie is Sony Pictures Animation’s “KPop Demon Hunters,” an animated action musical that has already become a huge hit on streaming.

According to TheWrap, people in the industry estimate the movie will make between $18 and $20 million in just two days. It is showing in about 1,700 theaters for a short run.

If those numbers hold, it would be just enough to beat Warner Bros. and New Line’s “Weapons,” which is expected to bring in $15.6 million in its third weekend.

On Netflix, “KPop Demon Hunters” is also making history. The film is close to passing “Red Notice” as the streamer’s most-watched film ever, with around 210 million views and climbing.

Even though Netflix rarely reports official box office numbers for its films, TheWrap notes that the company is following the same strategy it used with earlier releases like Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion.”

The story of how this movie ended up on Netflix has also become a hot topic in Hollywood. Sony sold “KPop Demon Hunters” to Netflix, making a reported $20 million profit. That move has led to a lot of speculation about how much money the film could have made if it had gone to theaters first.

TheWrap explained last week that, without a strong marketing push, the movie might have opened small like many other original animated films have in recent years.

What makes this even more surprising is that the movie has been available to stream for the past two months. Despite that, it’s now on track to outgross in two days the opening weekends of “The Bad Guys 2,” which made $22 million, and Pixar’s “Elio,” which made $20.8 million.

This comes during a summer where no animated movie has crossed $100 million in North America, something that hasn’t happened since 1997 outside of the pandemic years. Some in the industry believe “KPop Demon Hunters” could have been the one to break that streak if it had been released only in theaters.

Meanwhile, other movies are still doing well at the box office. “Weapons” has now earned $116 million in North America after three weekends, making it the sixth Warner Bros. release in a row to pass $100 million. Disney’s “Freakier Friday” took in $9.2 million this weekend, bringing its total to $70 million.

Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” earned $5.8 million and has now made more than $250 million in the U.S. and nearly $500 million worldwide. Rounding out the top five, “The Bad Guys 2” made $5 million this weekend and has a $66 million total so far.

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