So much for theatrical windows, but Netflix’s Kpop Demon Hunters Sing-along is returning to cinemas from Oct. 31-Nov. 2.
The first time the movie, which had already racked up record eyeballs on the streamer, played to a No. 1 take of $19M over Aug. 22-25, it was without AMC Theatres, but with a pure play in Regal, Cinemark and other circuits.
Now, in its reprise, Kpop Demon Hunters will play in 400 AMC theaters around the globe in addition to Regal and Cinemark. Offshore markets include UK, Ireland, Korea, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Australia, and New Zealand.
Netflix and AMC have often been at odds over windowing, exhibit A: a coast-to-coast wide release of Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman never happened. That said, AMC did play Netflix’s Knives Out: Glass Onion movie during its limited Thanksgiving 2022 release.
An AMC Theatres spokesperson had this to say: “Netflix, the world’s largest streaming service, and AMC Entertainment, the world’s largest theatre chain, have jointly decided to work together.
This new cooperation will start this Halloween weekend. AMC will show Netflix’s most-popular movie in its history, KPop Demon Hunters. It will play on approximately 400 AMC screens across its theatres in the U.S. and Europe.
While the two companies have not had a commercial relationship in recent years, both Netflix and AMC are intrigued by the mutually beneficial opportunities that could arise from this and future collaborations.
Discussions are underway as to what that may entail, but no further details are being shared at this time.”
Among wide releases over Halloween weekend, there ain’t much going on: Focus Features has Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia starring Emma Stone and Fathom has the re-release of Lionsgate’s Twilight Saga.
Kpop Demon Hunters, produced by Sony Animation, is the most watched movie on Netflix ever with north of 541.8 million global hours viewed.
The Maggie Kang- and Chris Appelhans-directed pic centers on Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong) and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo), young-adult pop stars in a group called Huntr/x, whose ancient demon slayer lineage has them moonlighting as demon hunters when they aren’t selling out stadiums and topping charts. When their biggest demonic enemy (Lee Byung-hun) encourages the formation of an equally popular K-pop boy band aimed at stealing the souls of their fans, the trio has to fight harder than ever to hold the demons at bay while keeping their friendship intact.
A sequel is currently in the works.