Netflix’s animated film K-Pop Demon Hunters broke new ground by topping the US box office in its first weekend. The film grossed between $18 million and $20 million, marking the first time in Netflix’s history that the streaming platform has topped the box office.

K-Pop Demon Hunters is breaking records

K-Pop Demon Hunters has attracted global attention not only for its streaming records but also for its soundtrack. Its intriguing plot and resounding soundtrack have garnered widespread international attention.

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Netflix has previously experimented with theatrical releases with films like Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, but these attempts were limited. At the time, the film grossed $15 million in a single week. K-Pop Demon Hunters surpassed this figure in just one weekend, demonstrating the platform’s box office potential.

The lack of a strong competition in its opening weekend also contributed to the film’s success. Its closest competitor, Weapons, followed suit with $15.4 million in its third week. K-Pop Demon Hunters had previously performed remarkably well even in Netflix’s own algorithms. Now, it’s also shifting the balance at the box office.

This box office success could also change Netflix’s future strategies. The platform may consider releasing more animated films in theaters, leveraging the momentum gained with K-Pop Demon Hunters.

This move could transform Netflix’s streaming model from a subscription-based one to a hybrid model that also targets traditional box office revenue. In doing so, the studio has proven that certain genres, such as animation, can also be highly sought after in theaters. This could open the door for more streaming platform titles to come to theaters in the future.