Key Takeaways
Total 3-Day Weekend Gross:
$76,965,512 | -16.7% Last Week / -13.4% Weekend 34, 2024
Netflix was able to resurrect what could have been a record-low weekend for summer ’25 with an $18 million+ cash injection at the box office as audiences flocked to a two-day sing-along theatrical event for KPop Demon Hunters. The animated film has become a pop culture phenomenon and a further example of audiences gravitating towards original titles this year. Speaking of original movies, Weapons also over-performed at #2 with $15.6M as it continues its strong showing at the box office.
- Top Title: KPop Demon Hunters Sing-Along Event (Netflix) | $18M / 1700 Screens / $10,588 PSA | Week 1
- Top Opener: KPop Demon Hunters Sing-Along Event (Netflix) | $18M / 1700 Screens / $10,588 PSA | Week 1
- Best PSA: Splitsville (Neon) | $105.57K / 5 Screens / $21,114 PSA | Week 1
Highlights From the Weekend
1. KPop Demon Hunters Sing-Along Event
Netflix | NEW
$18M+ 2-Day Opening Weekend
Netflix completely flipped the script this weekend by giving their animated streaming smash KPop Demon Hunters (which premiered for small screens on June 20) a theatrical spin for an exclusive two-day window as a sing-along attraction. Although Netflix is not divulging official numbers, several trade outlets are putting the opening weekend figure at $18M+ from only 1700 screens, less than half of those playing #2 movie Weapons (3,631 screens). That’s a $10,588 Per Screen Average.
The real story here is how unlikely a result this was, based on the Showtime data we have. It is practically unheard of for a movie to have such limited showtimes and still top the charts. Despite the theater count disparity, both KPop and Weapons had an 11% Showtime market share on Saturday and Sunday. However, going into the weekend KPop had the same showtime marketshare as Relay (1,483 screens), which opened to $1.9M, yet the Netflix movie made nearly 10x that amount. KPop achieved the number one ranking while only playing in 37% of theaters in the United States, with the majority of showtimes in the country being delivered by Regal, Cinemark, Marcus Theatres, B&B Theatres, Alamo Drafthouse, and Harkins Theatres.
It’s also interesting to compare with the stateside English dub of Ne Zha 2, which died this weekend with only $1.5M on 528 more screens than KPop. Both films deal in traditional Asian mythological themes, although KPop was heavily Americanized/contemporary. Still, Ne Zha might have performed better if they had the English dub ready to go back in February when it first hit our shores.
For exhibitors who participated in this two-day theatrical event, it was all gravy, especially during one of the driest months of the year when mostly sub-par new releases (Honey Don’t!, Eden) and stale holdovers (Freaky Friday, Fantastic Four) were on the table.
2. Weapons
Warner Bros. | Week 3
$15.6M 3-Day Weekend | $115.88M Domestic Total
$199.4M Global Total
While KPop Demon Hunters may have held the real power this weekend, ComScore will report the official #1 movie of this frame as WB’s Weapons, which made $15.6M on 3,631 screens for a $4,296 PSA, just above our high-end prediction. The percentage drop was also lower than last week with -36%, proving the movie has staying power.
That brings the domestic total on Zach Cregger’s acclaimed horror film to $115.88M, meaning sometime in the next week or two it will likely take down Final Destination: Bloodlines ($138.1M) as the #2 horror movie of the year. It is #13 domestically for the year so far.
Here’s how the 3-Day looked…
- Friday – $4.67M
- Saturday – $6.42M
- Sunday – $4.5M
Internationally Weapons brought in another $13.2M from 74 markets, bringing the global take to $199.4M before officially crossing the $200M threshold tomorrow. Top 3 overseas markets are the UK ($11.6M), Mexico ($7.5M), and Spain ($5.7M).
Other Notable Performances
As expected after last year’s Drive Away Dolls, Ethan Coen’s lesbian noir comedy Honey Don’t! failed to connect with broad audiences, posting an estimated $3M bow from 1,317 theaters. If the film had platformed it might have performed more admirably, considering it over indexed at NY and LA screens and upscale Alamo Drafthouse locations reported four times their norm on this title. Roundly rejected by critics and audiences (45% and 44% on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively), this was always intended as a cult movie despite big names like Chris Evans. Ticket buyers were 56% female, with 69% in the over-25 bracket.
A24’s re-release of Chinese mega-blockbuster Ne Zha 2 with a brand new English dub (featuring Michelle Yeoh) only generated $1.5M across 2228 engagements. That brings the domestic total to a modest $22.4M, meaning the most successful animated movie ever made (entering the $2B arena) did not really make an impression on US audiences.
Released by Vertical, Ron Howard’s Eden looks to be a black mark on the director’s career with a $1M debut weekend on 664 screens for a $1,577 PSA. The survival drama starring Jude Law did worse than Howard’s 2008 drama Frost/Nixon when it went semi-wide after three weeks in limited release into 205 screens for a $1.35M Frame 4. Eden earned 55% critical on Rotten Tomatoes.
Warner Bros. has other reasons to pop the champagne corks this week, as both Superman and F1 crossed the $600M mark globally. In previous years a big superhero hit crossing the $600M barrier would have been par for the course, but so far Supes ($604.5M WW) is the only comic book tentpole in 2025 to do so. Meanwhile, F1 ($603.4M) is firmly the biggest WW grosser of Brad Pitt’s storied career, besting World War Z ($531.86M).
Next Weekend
The summer 2025 movie season officially comes to a close next frame, not with a bang but a whimper. Darren Aronofsky delivers his punk rock crime drama Caught Stealing starring Austin Butler as an ex-baseball player navigating the underworld of 1990’s NYC. Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman lead The Roses, a remake of the 1989 dark comedy classic The War of the Roses which starred Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner as divorcing marrieds who refuse to concede anything.
Sunday Studio Estimates | Weekend 34 – 2025
Total 3-Day Domestic Gross: $76,965,512 | (-13.4% vs 2024)
| Title | Weekend Estimate | % Change | Locations | Location Change | PSA | Domestic Total | Week | Distributor |
| KPop Demon Hunters Sing-Along Event | $18,000,000 | 1,700 | $10,588 | 18,000,000 | 1 | Netflix | ||
| Weapons | $15,600,000 | -36% | 3,631 | 181 | $4,296 | 115,881,000 | 3 | Warner Bros. |
| Freakier Friday | $9,200,000 | -36% | 3,675 | -300 | $2,503 | 70,540,708 | 3 | Walt Disney |
| The Fantastic Four: First Steps | $5,900,000 | -35% | 3,190 | -165 | $1,850 | 257,251,951 | 5 | Walt Disney |
| The Bad Guys 2 | $5,100,000 | -32% | 3,288 | -92 | $1,551 | 66,178,000 | 4 | Universal |
| Nobody 2 | $3,700,000 | -60% | 3,282 | 22 | $1,127 | 16,547,000 | 2 | Universal |
| Superman | $3,430,000 | -35% | 2,338 | -317 | $1,467 | 346,975,000 | 7 | Warner Bros. |
| Honey Don’t | $3,000,000 | 1,317 | $2,278 | 3,000,000 | 1 | Focus Features | ||
| The Naked Gun | $2,950,000 | -40% | 2,776 | -251 | $1,063 | 47,563,000 | 4 | Paramount Pi… |
| Jurassic World Rebirth | $2,100,000 | -29% | 2,100 | -170 | $1,000 | 335,580,000 | 8 | Universal |
| Relay | $1,927,941 | 1,483 | $1,300 | 1,927,941 | 1 | Bleecker Street | ||
| F1: The Movie | $1,810,000 | -33% | 1,021 | -151 | $1,773 | 185,908,000 | 9 | Warner Bros. |
| Ne Zha 2 | $1,547,499 | 2,228 | $695 | 18,548,985 | 28 | A24 | ||
| Eden | $1,047,305 | 664 | $1,577 | 1,047,305 | 1 | Vertical Ent… | ||
| Together | $454,720 | -58% | 439 | -861 | $1,036 | 20,756,060 | 4 | Neon |
| How to Train Your Dragon | $370,000 | 98% | 1,178 | 935 | $314 | 262,519,000 | 11 | Universal |
| Trust | $240,276 | 432 | $556 | 240,276 | 1 | Republic Pic… | ||
| Sketch | $237,250 | -75% | 627 | -1,227 | $378 | 7,807,529 | 3 | Angel Studios |
| Splitsville | $105,572 | 5 | $21,114 | 105,572 | 1 | Neon | ||
| Lurker | $64,436 | 4 | $16,109 | 64,436 | 1 | MUBI | ||
| Smurfs | $61,000 | -62% | 151 | -155 | $404 | 31,027,000 | 6 | Paramount Pi… |
| CatVideoFest 2025 | $49,753 | -31% | 39 | -8 | $1,276 | 863,828 | 4 | Oscilloscope… |
| Lilo & Stitch | $29,000 | -54% | 55 | -10 | $527 | 421,801,492 | 14 | Walt Disney |
| My Mother’s Wedding | $17,885 | -82% | 201 | n/c | $89 | 872,961 | 3 | Vertical Ent… |
| Elio | $12,000 | -74% | 45 | -25 | $267 | 72,931,628 | 10 | Walt Disney |
| Pools | $10,875 | 1 | $10,875 | 10,875 | 1 | Circle Colle… |
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