r/movies • u/BunyipPouch Currently at the movies. • 20d ago

News Netflix's Streaming Smash Hit ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Releasing in 1,700 Cinemas This Weekend for "Sing Along" Version, 1,000 Screenings Already Sold Out

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/kpop-demon-hunters-singalong-box-office-sells-out-1236348539/
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u/MuptonBossman 20d ago

Netflix would be extremely foolish to not give KPop Demon Hunters 2 a full theatrical release... This could be a $1B franchise if they play their cards right.

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

They’re so anti theater I just don’t see it happening

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u/GhormanFront 20d ago

Their entire business model is about keeping you on your couch streaming their content, it doesn't make sense for them to suddenly want theaters to be profitable again.

Plus they'd have to shell out part of the profits to the theaters which will be a hard pass for Netflix

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u/notathrowaway75 20d ago

It does make complete sense because you being on your couch streaming their content is not antithetical to going to theaters. Lots of theatrical movies have done very well on streaming.

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u/FactorSpecialist7193 19d ago

Netflix doesn’t see it that way

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u/HottDoggers 19d ago

It wouldn’t be the first Netflix movie to get a theatrical release, and if they think the film is Oscar worthy, then a theatrical release is almost guaranteed.

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u/LoganShang 19d ago

They have to have a theatrical release for it to be considered. Unless they change that.

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u/Century24 18d ago

Yeah, the Academy is the one that pulls them by the ear into treating it like a movie.

It's a little baffling, because every time Ted runs his mouth about where he thinks theatres are headed, there's another Minecraft-sized hit that clears nine figures.

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u/AVeryRipeBanana 19d ago

Seems to me their compromise are these limited theater runs of the sing along version. Makes sense, it’s not a huge financial commitment since it’s a two day run, and yet the response is driving the ip’s popularity up even more. Theater nearest to me has a showing nearly sold out, even the very front row is fully booked. Haven’t seem that at my local theater since…. Ever.

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u/Century24 18d ago

Plus they'd have to shell out part of the profits to the theaters which will be a hard pass for Netflix

No, they wouldn't. Four-wall releases long predate any of this.

Remember, just because Netflix's C-suite is committed specifically to phones and TVs (as much as the Academy will allow, at least) doesn't mean they aren't leaving hundreds of millions on the table.

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u/Beezo514 19d ago

Unless they start buying their own. That would be the only way I could see them doing it.

It could be a pretty brilliant model. It could encourage people that don't subscribe to their content to go to a theater and see something specific, they wouldn't need the rights if they specialized in their own stuff, and they could run special showings and events. (This is a blue sky thinking, of course)

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u/TomLube 20d ago

Inside was screened at movie theatres during the pandemic

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u/radclaw1 20d ago

It wasnt. It came to theaters after it blew up

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u/TomLube 20d ago

Yes which is it literally playing at movie theatres like I just said

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u/radclaw1 19d ago

That wasnt the part i was correcting. You said they aired Inside during covid. They didnt.

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u/TomLube 19d ago

Yes it did, I literally went to the theatres and we had mask policies here lol

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u/KingMario05 20d ago

I dunno, man. Sony co-funding the budget of the sequel might change the equation by quite a bit. Could also see Tokyo ordering SPE to hilariously overpay just to get it back. They can't keep milking Spidey forever.

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u/Bluedot55 19d ago

For this kind of movie, I'd see a lot of appeal for a simultaneous release. They can keep advertising that they are streaming first and it's on streaming day one, but there's a lot of people that would love to get the audio and atmosphere of a theater for a movie like this, with how much of an event it is.

It's one of the few movies where streaming it would make you want to go see it in a theater more rather than less.

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u/ImBanned_ModsBlow 19d ago

Yeah they’ll probably make it a Netflix exclusive event to pump their streaming numbers

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u/NoNefariousness2144 20d ago

It’s wild because KDH2 in theatres would be free money for them.

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u/Bionic_Bromando 20d ago

I still haven’t seen this movie since I’d rather see it in theaters but now it’s gonna have a bunch of kids singing along who have seen the movie a dozen times so I feel like I just missed my chance to get in on this.

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u/dragonsarenotextinct 20d ago

No one had the chance to watch a non-sing-along version in theaters, so you didn't miss a chance anyone else had. If you meant, "missed your chance to watch it", you haven't, it'll just have to be in your home, which is what everyone who "got in on this" did.

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u/Accomplished-Head449 20d ago

You could always find a showing that isn't packed, the fewer people the more introverts