“Weapons” had no trouble retaining its top spot at the box office on Friday, but there’s another release still chasing after it. With movie theaters getting quiet as the summer season winds down, Netflix’s animated streaming smash “KPop Demon Hunters” may actually end up winning the weekend, with a two-day release of a sing-along version. It’d be quite the turn of events for Netflix, which has consistently opted out of playing in movie theaters, to the point of the company’s CEO calling them “outdated” back in April.
“KPop Demon Hunters” has already been on Netflix for over two months. It’s still climbing the streamer’s all-time charts, now ranking as the second most-watched film ever on the platform. But despite being readily available for home viewing, there’s clearly an appetite among fans to watch the film in theaters.
The animated musical, which was produced by Sony Pictures Animation before being sold to Netflix, is bowing in more than 1,700 locations on Saturday and Sunday. That’s many more venues than the last time Netflix went beyond an awards-qualifying theatrical run with “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” which played about 600 locations, albeit over the longer five-day window of the 2022 Thanksgiving holiday. Netflix did not report box office grosses then and it’d be a remarkable change if they decided to now, even though the company would be turning down bragging rights for No. 1.
Meanwhile, “Weapons” still has a head start on the weekend with $4.7 million on Friday, down just 37% from its daily total a week ago. It’s the start of another strong hold for the buzzy horror film, which only dropped 43% in its second weekend. Writer-director Zach Cregger’s R-rated original has now crossed $105 million in North America, now ranking as the market’s 13th-biggest release of the calendar year.
Opening this weekend, “Honey Don’t!” is in 1,417 theaters from Universal’s specialty label Focus Features after scoring lukewarm reviews out of its Cannes premiere back in May. The lesbian noir earned $1.4 million across Friday and preview screenings, looking to open outside the top five with a $3.2 million bow. That’d still be a stronger start than married co-writers Tricia Cooke and Ethan Coen’s last caper for Focus, “Drive-Away Dolls,” which also starred Margaret Qualley and debuted to a scant $2.4 million in 2024.
Third place looks to go to Disney’s “Freakier Friday.” The PG-rated comedy sequel added another $2.8 million on Friday, down 38% from its daily total a week ago. Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan’s reunion looks to hit about $70 million through the end of its third weekend.
Disney also has fourth with “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” which brought in another $1.6 million on Friday for a 36% drop from its daily total last week. The Marvel Studios production is now at a $252 million domestic total.
Universal’s “The Bad Guys 2” is looking at fifth, projecting $5.1 million in its fourth weekend, which would be another good hold at a 32% fall. Domestic gross on the DreamWorks Animation sequel looks to hit $66 million domestic through Sunday. The 2022 original also hit $66 million through the same time frame, on its way to finishing at $97 million.
Holding less well for Universal is “Nobody 2,” looking to fall to sixth. The Bob Odenkirk-led actioner is projecting $3.5 million in its sophomore outing for a 62% fall from its opening. The R-rated sequel should hit $16.3 million domestic through its second Sunday. Its franchise predecessor, which released in early 2021 in a severely COVID-hobbled market, earned $11.8 million within the same window.
Debuting outside the top 10, Bleecker Street has David Mackenzie’s “Relay” in 1,483 locations. The Riz Ahmed and Lily James thriller, which debuted to positive reviews out of last year’s Toronto Film Festival premiere, is hoping to get past $2 million in its debut. Meanwhile, Vertical also has a leftover feature from last year’s Toronto, with Ron Howard’s “Eden” bowing in 664 venues. The desert island thriller, with a starry cast that includes Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney and Ana de Armas, landed mediocre reviews and is opening outside the top 10.
In the same weekend as the “KPop Demon Hunters” bow, A24 also went fishing on a months-old animated film, opening a re-release of the Chinese feature “Ne Zha II” in 2,228 locations. The mythological epic first bowed in North America way back in February and finished with $20 million stateside. A24 came aboard for this re-release, adding a new English dub headlined by Michelle Yeoh. The effort didn’t translate to a breakout, with about $690,000 in grosses on Friday. Those are slim numbers, but it’s a drop in the bucket for “Ne Zha II,” far and away the biggest movie of the year globally. It has earned more than $2 billion worldwide, the vast majority of that gross coming from its native country.