‘KPop Demon Hunters 2’ Targeting “A Very Broad Theatrical Release,” Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos Says, Addressing Streamer’s Distribution Strategy

KPop Demon Hunters has broken streaming records for Netflix, amassing 325.1M views in its first 90 days on the platform and spending 63 consecutive weeks in the Global Top 10. The direct-to-streaming animated Sony title showed a massive box-office potential too — two months after KPop Demon Hunters‘ debut on Netflix, its singalong version grossed estimated $19M over just two days at No. 1, with all circuits playing it except AMC which had boycotted Netflix in the past over its reluctance to commit to a 45-day theatrical window.

Not surprisingly, Netflix is planning a “big, broad, global” theatrical release for the sequel to the family smash, expected in 2029, the streamer’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos revealed at Bloomberg’s Screentime Wednesday night while discussing Netflix’s evolving theatrical release strategy.

Upcoming movies that will hit theaters first before launching on Netflix include Cannes Best Director winner La Bola Negra (Oct. 16), Peter Berg’s Mosquito Bowl (Oct. 30), David Fincher’s The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth (Nov. 25), Danny Boyle’s Ink (Dec. 11), Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew (Feb. 12, 2027) and animated title Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory (Nov. 5, 2027).

“On one end of the spectrum is La Bola Negra, Train Dreams last year that could have played in the theaters for six months and it wouldn’t have impacted, it would have done net positive on Netflix,” Sarandos said. “Those kind of art house films play like that. And then the other end is the kind of four-quad family rewatch movie, so we said let’s take those two and treat them different. We’re going to do a big wide release for Narnia next year, and then we’ll do a big wide release for Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory at the end of the year. We think they’ll do great, and when the KPop Demon Hunters sequel comes, you can expect a very broad theatrical release.”

Narnia, Charlie and La Bola Negra are getting 50, 47 and 46-day theatrical window, respectively; for Cliff Booth and Mosquito Bowl, it’s 27 and 26, respectively.

On those movies, Netflix will also report boxoffice for the first time. What would the streamer consider a success for a film first released in theaters?

“It won’t be tied to the P&L itself, relatively low expectations that will add much to the financial outcome of the film itself,” Sarandos said. “If you’re gonna say, pick a little risk to the Netflix performance, it should have the potential for a very big upside in the theater. So, for Narnia, for KPop Demon Hunters, that’s why they’re gonna get big, broad, global release. But I think in the other ones where it’s kind of in the middle, that’s where it gets tougher.”

Sarandos noted that the most watched movies of all time on the platform are Netflix originals, beating pay-TV window titles, “except for the kids and family movies because they get a lot of rewatching.”

For the rest, boxoffice success does not necessarily translate into streaming success.

“No disparaging movies in the boxoffice, but movies that come out in the theater do pretty well, what happens is the most passionate audience went to see it in the theater, so by the time it comes to Netflix, you’ve lost that passionate audience, and you got the people that go, ‘Oh, I meant to see that,’ or ‘I’ll get around to that.'”

Sarandos said that last year, Netflix put over 30 movies in the theaters for various periods of time, keeping some on the big screen after its streaming release, including Frankenstein, which stayed in theaters for six months.