Receipts: Triple Threat ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Is #1 At US Box Office, Billboard, And Netflix
Domestic: During Weekend 34 of 2025, KPop Demon Hunters dominated the US box office in its first week of theatrical release. Since the film’s streaming release via Netflix on Friday, June 20, 2025, the film has exponentially grown in popularity, cementing itself as one of the top films of the summer. It earned a whopping $18 million domestically, over two months after its initial release. Despite being released in significantly fewer theaters than many other films currently showing, the film had a dominant lead on its way to the top spot.
In its fifth week of release, The Fantastic Four: First Steps continues to perform decently, coming in fourth place at the box office for a second week. The film only dropped 33.5% from the previous weekend, earning $6.009 million and bringing its total domestic gross to a strong $257.361 million.
The Bad Guys 2 stayed in fifth place this week, the same as last weekend. The animated favorite continues to perform well in its fourth week of release, grossing $5.108 million, only a slight 32.1% drop from last weekend, and raising its total domestic gross to $66.186 million.
Chinese box office titan Ne Zha 2 is in the midst of an English-dubbed North American release, which began on Friday, August 22, 2025. Already the highest-grossing film of 2025, the film currently sits at a worldwide gross of $1.901 billion in its 28th week of release. The film came in 13th place at the box office, earning $1.547 million over the weekend, thus bringing its total US gross to $22.406 million. The US distribution has been led by A24 and features a brand-new voice performance from Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh.
Ne Zha 2, which is the highest-grossing animated feature of all time, is the sequel to the 2019 hit Ne Zha. The sequel picks up immediately after the events of the first film and follows the magic-wielding hero, Ne Zha, as he faces his greatest foe yet. It is up to Ne Zha to put a stop to the formidable foe and save the world from destruction. Beyond the film’s financial dominance, critics and audiences alike have adored the film, awarding it with a jaw-dropping 91% critic score and an even more impressive 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
International: Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Infinity Castle ruled both South Korea and Japan’s box offices for the weekend ending Sunday, August 24, 2025. The film debuted in South Korea this week, earning the top spot at the box office and a staggering $12.581 million. In Japan, the film remained in the coveted number one spot for its sixth week of release. The animated feature earned $7.857 million across the weekend, only a 38.3% drop from the previous week, thus bringing its total Japanese gross up to a highly impressive $191.169 million.
In Italy, The Bad Guys 2 claimed the top spot at the box office for the weekend of Thursday, August 21, 2025, to Sunday, August 24, 2025, earning $1.337 million across its first week of release and bringing its overall Italian gross up to $1.797 million.
Streaming: On Netflix, KPop Demon Hunters remarkably holds strong at number one on Netflix’s Global Top 10 English Movies list. The film is now the platform’s most-watched film of all time, beating out the 2021 blockbuster and Netflix original Red Notice. This week alone, KPop Demon Hunters accrued an additional 25.4 million views and a staggering 42.4 million hours of viewing time. The film’s music catalogue has been incredibly popular as well and currently has four songs in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10. Of course, “Golden” remains at number one for a second week, while “Your Idol,” “Soda Pop,” and “How It’s Done” sit at fourth, fifth, and 10th on the charts, respectively.
In third place, Welcome to Sudden Death made the top 10 in its debut week on Netflix. Initially released on Tuesday, September 29, 2020, the film has found a second life after being added to Netflix, earning 6.2 million views and 8.3 million hours of watch time. Unfortunately, the film was universally panned upon its initial release, currently holding a 33% critic score and 24% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The thriller stars Michael Jai White as Jesse, a special forces officer turned security guard, who must put a stop to a group of terrorists after they take over a basketball arena.
On Netflix’s Non-English Movies Top 10 list, the Turkish drama Abandoned Man comes in at second. Released on Friday, August 22, 2025, via Netflix, the film racked up 7.7 million views and 11.8 million hours of viewing time across its debut week. The film follows Baran (Mert Ramazan Demir), a man wrongly convicted of his brother's crime. After being released from prison, Baran struggles to rebuild his life and care for his beloved niece, Lidya (Ada Erma).
In third place on the list is Thailand’s Gold Rush Gang, which also premiered this week on Thursday, August 21, 2025, earning 1.8 million views and 3.6 million hours of viewing time. Set at the very end of World War II, the film follows a group of bandits and their leader, Kowa Thung Song (Petchtai Wongkamlao), as they set out to rob a gold-filled train.