‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Returns to Theaters–Halloween Sing-Along Screening

Netflix is bringing KPop Demon Hunters, animated fantasy adventure about a fictional K-pop girl group who protect the world from demons with their music, back to the big screen for Halloween-themed sing-along screenings. (Costumes are encouraged, the streamer wrote in a press release.) It’ll play from Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 at all three major U.S. theatrical chains — AMC, Regal and Cinemark — and in select theaters. That’s significant because the nation’s top circuits are usually loath to program films from the theatrical-averse Netflix.
“KPop Demon Hunters” topped the box office in late August, generating $18 when a sing-along edition was initially released in theaters for two days. It was unusual that Netflix scheduled “KPop Demon Hunters” on the big screen in the first place — not just because the company doesn’t prioritize theatrical, but because the movie had debuted on the streaming platform about two months prior. But since June, “KPop Demon Hunters” has become Netflix’s most popular release ever while three of its original songs — “Golden,” “Your Idol” and “Soda Pop” — have been mainstays on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
Theatrical event helps drive fans back to the platform for re-watches and the upcoming sequel.
Now “KPop Demon Hunters” will screen at approximately 400 AMC locations across the U.S. and Europe. And AMC seems to be softening its stance against Netflix, meaning this might not be the last collaboration between the dominant theater chain and the biggest streaming platform. (AMC played “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” in 2022 but otherwise has avoided scheduling Netflix releases because the two companies don’t agree on the length of time a movie should remain exclusively in theaters.)
“While the two companies have not had commercial relationship in years, both Netflix and AMC like the mutually beneficial opportunities that could arise from this and future collaboration,” AMC Theatres said. “Discussions are underway as to what that may entail, but no further details are being shared at this time.”