Living Room Legend Netflix Makes a Break for Hollywood

Stranger things have happened at Netflix, but nothing like this. 

Two weekends ago, the streaming giant took its ultra-popular animated movie musical KPop Demon Hunters, which debuted on its service in June, to theaters nationwide where it became a hit, soaring to the top of the US box office while raking in $18 million. Then Netflix did something even stranger: It pulled the hit from theaters before it could repeat over the long holiday weekend. It’s an interesting experiment as the company continues to tiptoe out of your living room and into the real world.

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The traditional Hollywood players have been stuck in a quagmire for years: When is the right time to make a theatrical release available at home, either through pay-per-view or a streaming service, without cannibalizing potential box office revenue? With Kpop, Netflix proved the box office release doesn’t have to come first: A streaming hit can turn into a cinema sensation. And Kpop became one without the help of AMC, the nation’s largest theater chain, which has long refused to exhibit movies also available for streaming.

The success may also challenge the assumptions of Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, who said at a conference in May that the theatrical model is “an outdated concept.” (Sarandos has notably changed his tune when it comes to advertising and sports.)

Either way, Kpop is not the first time — and won’t be the last time — that Netflix has played footsie with the theatrical model: 

• Back in 2022, Netflix gave Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery a limited release across 700 theaters over Thanksgiving weekend after pleas from its director, Rian Johnson, and scored nearly $14 million at the box office. But analysts say the film could’ve opened to up to $50 million over the holiday weekend with a more traditional wide release; the original film, put out by Lionsgate in 2019, had a lifetime worldwide gross of $313 million, prompting Netflix to acquire the rights to two sequels for $469 million.
• And during next year’s Thanksgiving weekend, Netflix will give its Chronicles of Narnia a two-week release in IMAX theaters at the urging of high-profile director Greta Gerwig. Gerwig’s previous film, 2023’s Barbie, grossed $1.4 billion worldwide, setting an all-time record for Warner Bros.

(Note: Netflix gives some films limited theatrical releases to meet end-of-season awards eligibility standards.)

Netflix House of Cards: At the box office or not, Netflix is clearly interested in catering to the extroverts among us. After a successful run in London’s West End, Netflix brought its Stranger Things: The First Shadow play to Broadway earlier this year. And last week, it announced the arrival of permanent “Netflix House” experiences in Philadelphia and Dallas later this year, with a third landing in Las Vegas in 2027. The 100,000-square-foot destinations will feature shopping and entertainment experiences, such as virtual reality rooms and mini golf, all branded with familiar Netflix IP (such as Kpop and Squid Game). It’s not Disneyland, yet. But it’s a start.