Over the first half of 2026, there were some notable box office success stories. Project Hail Mary and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie were monumental hits over the spring. Indie horror movies like Backrooms and Obsession (which is still going strong over a month later) became the talk of the summer movie season. However, as always, there were other titles that flew under the radar and didn’t make much of an impact in theaters. One such title that falls under that umbrella is They Will Kill You, a horror action comedy film starring Zazie Beetz. After a lackluster run on the big screen, it’s finally finding an audience for itself on streaming.
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According to FlixPatrol, which measures the popularity of films and TV shows on various streaming services, They Will Kill You is the No. 1 movie on HBO Max in the United States. It beat out the likes of Contagion and The Bride! to secure its spot on the chart. They Will Kill You was added to HBO Max on Friday, June 12th, so it took only a handful of days for it to rise up the top 10 list.
Why Did They Will Kill You Disappoint at the Box Office?
When it opened in late March, They Will Kill You earned generally positive reviews (65% on Rotten Tomatoes), with much of the praise being given to Beetz for her strong, action-packed performance. However, the film could only muster $19.3 million at the worldwide box office, failing to recoup its $20 million production budget. One of the main reasons why this happened is late March was the time of Project Hail Mary, which broke box office records early in its run. It was the biggest live-action cinematic event of the spring, appealing to die-hard sci-fi fans, casual moviegoers, and all viewers in between. Project Hail Mary earned widespread acclaim, making it difficult for anything to really compete with it — even as a counter-programming option.
It also didn’t help matters that They Will Kill You premiered just a week after the similarly themed Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, which was also targeting fans of horror comedies. The sequel to 2019’s Ready or Not didn’t make the biggest splash at the box office ($39.5 million worldwide, a stark decrease from the original’s $57.6 million), but by virtue of its release date, it was able to reach the main target demographic first and eat into the potential audience for They Will Kill You. There just wasn’t demand for another horror action comedy about a young woman engaging in a high-stakes game of life or death so soon. If it was just Ready or Not 2 or They Will Kill You, then maybe one would have found success. The two coming out in such close proximity created a situation where one essentially cannibalized the other.
Fortunately for They Will Kill You, streaming has emerged as a realm where these kinds of overlooked movies can finally find an audience. It’s easy to see why it’s caught on with HBO Max subscribers. Outside of being a fresh arrival (which always gives a title a viewership boost), They Will Kill You is a fun ride that stands out a bit thanks to its stylish presentation and immersive production design. Even if it doesn’t do much to reinvent the wheel in terms of storytelling, it’s still an entertaining watch, particularly with Beetz serving as the anchor. After she made an impression as Domino in Deadpool 2, it’s nice to see her headline a film like this, showcasing her action chops even further.
They Will Kill You director Kirill Sokolov told us back in April that he would be interested in revisiting this universe with a follow-up. The odds of that happening are low, considering the poor box office performance. However, box office receipts are just one revenue source available to a film. If They Will Kill You makes enough through PVOD purchases and rentals and continues to fare well on streaming, maybe it’ll gain a large enough following that Warner Bros. will seriously consider a sequel. If They Will Kill You 2 ever comes to fruition, the main goal should be finding a better landing spot for it so it’s in a better position to succeed in theaters.
