{"id":30976,"date":"2025-11-11T11:13:47","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T11:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/30976\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T11:13:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T11:13:47","slug":"inside-netflix-house-philadelphia-which-opens-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/30976\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Netflix House Philadelphia, Which Opens This Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tWhen \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d blew up over the summer, Netflix<\/a> was nearly finished with the Philadelphia location of Netflix House<\/a> \u2014 the first of its permanent entertainment and shopping venues<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe weren\u2019t loaded in, but every element had been planned, and there\u2019s complexity there,\u201d Netflix chief marketing officer Marian Lee<\/a> told Variety Monday in an interview inside of the Tudum Theater (where Netflix IP will be regularly screened) at Netflix House at the King of Prussia mall in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tNetflix House Philadelphia. Photo by Kat Kendon.\u00a92025 Netflix Attractions, LLC<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKat Kendon<\/p>\n

\n\tBut a hit as big as \u201cKPop\u201d couldn\u2019t be left out of a flagship 100,000-square-foot destination, set to open Wednesday, Nov. 12, so Lee\u2019s team got to work quickly on modifying all the parts of the venue that could be overhauled. Some things were easier than others, thanks to the modular nature of Netflix House, which is intended to turn over its experiences fairly regularly in line with new Netflix releases.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOn the outside of the building, the mural, that has to go before the township to get approval,\u201d Lee says, noting the addition of Derpy \u2014 the fan-favorite blue tiger from \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d \u2014 to the large-scale illustration outside the entrance to Netflix House, done by local Philadelphia artist Emily White. \u201cSo adding elements to something like that is much more complicated. I probably tortured the team to say, \u2018OK, well, when we open, what are we going to have from \u2018KPop Demon Hunters?\u2019, knowing that there was very little we could do. From July, this has all been in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tNetflix House Philadelphia \/ Photo Credit: Kat Kendon<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKat Kendon\/NETFLIX<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition to getting last-minute approval to make changes to the mural, Netflix House installed \u201ca massive fiberglass Derpy that people can take pictures on,\u201d as well as devoting a considerable portion of the interior design to \u201cKPop\u201d callouts. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere\u2019s elements in the atrium, a lenticular of Huntrix and elements like that, that I think are incredible photo opportunities,\u201d Lee said. \u201cThe merch, the popcorn, the menu items\u201d at Netflix House\u2019s restaurant, Netflix Bites, and \u201call things that we could impact quickly, we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat couldn\u2019t be changed was the pre-planned ticketed offerings \u2014 the parts of Netflix House that will cost house-warmers money to enter \u2014 like the \u201cOne Piece\u201d and \u201cWednesday\u201d themed-interactive experiences ($39 apiece), the virtual reality rooms ($25), and the Top 9 mini golf course ($15).<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tNetflix House Philadelphia. Photo by Kat Kendon.\u00a92025 Netflix Attractions, LLC<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKat Kendon<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAn experience, we are working on that, creative development might take a while, but we don\u2019t want to sort of slap dash something together,\u201d Lee said. \u201cWe want it to be thoughtful. And I think these types of immersive experiences take time to creatively develop and then produce and so I\u2019m excited for that. But we were able to get a lot of things in so that if you\u2019re a kid and learning about Netflix through \u2018KPop Demon Hunters,\u2019 we want you to come in and not look around and be like, \u2018Where\u2019s the \u2018KPop\u2019 stuff?’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLee is hinting at the enviable goal of something that took a brand like Disney 100 years to gain: a fandom surrounding not just the individual intellectual property it owns, but the company itself.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tNetflix House Philadelphia. Photo by Kat Kendon.\u00a92025 Netflix Attractions, LLC<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKat Kendon<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, that doesn\u2019t mean Netflix is looking to compete with Disney (or others) in the theme park space \u2014 at least not in the next decade. The company currently is focused on rolling out more Netflix Houses, with the second set to debut in Dallas next month, featuring \u201cStranger Things\u201d and \u201cSquid Game\u201d experiences, followed by one in Las Vegas in 2027, which Lee says will house a \u201cCharlie and the Chocolate Factory\u201d experience tied to Netflix\u2019s expanding world of Roald Dahl IP.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think for us, I am really focused on making sure that this location, and the one that we\u2019re opening next month in Dallas are hyper-successful,\u201d Lee said. \u201cWe\u2019re working on Las Vegas right now, which will open in \u201927, and I\u2019m excited for that because it\u2019s a different audience that\u2019s coming through there. It\u2019s a little bit of a different space. So I\u2019m interested to see how that plays. And I think in success, we would love to have this type of Netflix House in every major city. So that kind of takes me through many, many years \u2014 10-plus years\u2019 of focus \u2014 and so that\u2019s what we\u2019re really focused on. The expansion of Netflix House and continuing to deliver more in-real-life experiences that we think our fans really want.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tNetflix House Philadelphia \/ Photo Credit: Kat Kendon<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKat Kendon<\/p>\n

\n\tSee below for more from Variety\u2018s interview with Lee inside Netflix House.<\/p>\n

\t\tNetflix House Dallas opens next month, and was announced at the same time as Philadelphia was a couple years ago. Las Vegas will open in 2027. Is that so that you can take learnings from what you see at Dallas and Philadelphia and use those to make adjustments to Vegas, if needed, rather than open sooner with the same plans in 2026?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI would love to say that it was that way. But a lot of the timing is based on where, opportunistically, there\u2019s a location that pops up. You need massive square footage. You need 100,000 square feet with massive ceiling clearance, and you can\u2019t get that everywhere. So the narrowness of the locations available to us, it is a little bit of a scouting them and them popping up opportunistically. Dallas and Philadelphia will largely feel similar, like they will have different things inside, but in terms of, a box that was maybe an old department store or something like that, will feel more similar than Las Vegas, which is on the Strip. It\u2019s still massive. It\u2019s more vertically oriented. We have different elements there, tons of foot traffic on the Strip, and so what we put right off the street will look very different. And so if you go to Vegas, you\u2019ll walk in and know you\u2019re at Netflix House \u2014 but it\u2019s not going to be, you walk in and you\u2019re like, \u201cOh, I could be in Philly, or I could be in Dallas.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tNetflix House Philadelphia \/ Photo Credit: Kat Kendon<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKat Kendon\/NETFLIX<\/p>\n

\t\tThere\u2019s a big emphasis on the Philadelphia-location aspect of this Netflix House, with a huge table devoted to Philly-specific Netflix merch. Will all the houses be like that and what is the reasoning behind such a tie to the location when the overall idea is to experience Netflix IP in each of these venues?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt ties back to the fact that, at Netflix, we always say, \u201cWe are local for local.\u201d And I think that is an incredible principle to have, whether it\u2019s about the development of content that happens all around the world. Whether our content executives are developing something in France for the French audience or in Korea for the Korean audience \u2014 and sure, we have global titles that travel everywhere, but \u201cSquid Game\u201d was developed for a Korean audience, and it just happened to gain that popularity.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo local for local is something that we really think about here where we\u2019ve making a huge capital investment in a local town or city. We employed 260 people locally through the construction phase, we will have over 300 employees locally that will be employees of Netflix and staff Netflix House. And that is important, just for community building \u2014 why we\u2019re here, the investments that we\u2019re making. But also, to your point, down to the merchandise. People want to see their town, themselves reflected back. And I think us acknowledging that and continuing to expand on the merchandise assortment, I think that will blow [people] out of the water, because you can\u2019t get it anywhere else. That\u2019s not new, other retailers do the same thing, and you might see something and be like, \u201cOh my God, that\u2019s so cute. I can only get it at Netflix House.\u201d But the fact that you\u2019re getting something that was designed specifically for people from the Philadelphia area is really exciting. We\u2019ll have the same thing when we open in Dallas, et cetera. And so I love that that\u2019s a very cute nod to where we\u2019re located, and the acknowledgement that we appreciate our fans here \u2014 but it is important for us when we come into a city, that it is about being a part of the local community. And so it\u2019s about our fans, it\u2019s about the local community, and all of that comes together, and then you can buy local merchandise.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tNetflix House Philadelphia \/ Photo Credit: Kat Kendon<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKat Kendon<\/p>\n

\t\tWill the Dallas location of Netflix House have additional \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d tie-ins, as it had a little more time to prep than Philly before opening?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tDallas actually didn\u2019t really have a lot of time, because it\u2019s just like a month away. But Vegas for sure. And we have a lot of fun things already planned for Vegas \u2014 a \u201cCharlie and the Chocolate Factory\u201d experience. And so I\u2019m excited for Vegas. I think there\u2019s going to be so many different elements that we will pull in. And for certain, we will pull in more \u201cKPop\u201d stuff, because we have time. And we are thinking about what we learn from these two locations that are opening and what\u2019s proving to be super popular, that we can either expand for Vegas or change things. <\/p>\n

\t\tIn Netflix House Philadelphia, there are two immersive experiences: \u201cWednesday: Eve of the Outcasts\u201d and \u201cOne Piece: Quest for the Devil Fruit.\u201d While the \u201cWednesday\u201d one is more of an open-world experience, with carnival games and a larger mystery to solve, if you choose, the \u201cOne Piece\u201d experience is a narrative-driven series of escape rooms with a main goal. Is this the format \u2014 one open world and one story-specific-mission style \u2014 you plan to follow in the other locations, or could you have two similar styles going at one time?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt just turned out that way, but \u201cSquid Game\u201d is more physical game play, and it\u2019s great for groups. But there isn\u2019t an intention for one thing is an escape-room-type thing. It\u2019s more about the IP itself, and where we think the fans will love something. And \u201cStranger Things\u201d in Dallas is about solving a mystery; a little bit like \u201cOne Piece,\u201d but totally different. So it just depends. \u201cSquid Game\u201d is fun for all ages to play games, and it\u2019s more physical than the others.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tNetflix House Philadelphia \/ Photo Credit: Kat Kendon<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKat Kendon<\/p>\n

\t\tHow often do you plan on changing out the larger experiences? How substantially different would my experience be each time if I came back once a month?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWe designed it so that we want you to come back over and over again, because maybe the immersive experiences will be the same, but my expectation is not for you to come and you\u2019re going to do \u201cOne Piece\u201d and then go straight into \u201cWednesday.\u201d You might come back a month later. You might come back two months later. You might just do mini golf or eat a pizza and have a drink. So we want you to come back. I think our expectation is that they\u2019d rotate inside of a year, but I\u2019m not sure yet, because, and I think this is important, we\u2019re going to listen to our fans. And are they coming back to do it over and over again? Maybe not. If they\u2019re not, why not? Do we need to swap it sooner? Does it need to rotate in and out in a different time period than we had originally thought of. <\/p>\n

\n\tI think the beauty of working at a place like Netflix and having a space like this is it is really modular, and there is a lot of flexibility for us to move things in and out, and for us to change our minds. And we\u2019re not so heavily\u2013 we\u2019re committed, but it\u2019s not like perhaps at a theme park where it\u2019s like, \u201cNope, this is the way it\u2019s going to be, and it\u2019s never going to flex.\u201d And we have the ability and the freedom to have that flexibility to change things and to really listen to what the fans are saying. So there might be something that comes out that we didn\u2019t even anticipate \u2014 another show or film, that it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, amazing. Well, we know how to do that, because we just had to rush and do that for \u2018KPop.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tHow long do each of the feature experiences take and how did you determine the value for the price, $39 per experience?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tSo really, it\u2019s about an hour [each]. You could spend longer. Or you could choose to only do the games in \u201cWednesday\u201d and not work through the mystery portion of it. We have run 40 unique types of experiences in 350 cities. So we have enough data that tells us that 60-to-75-minute mark is the right amount of time. And we\u2019ve looked at pricing across every day part, every city, and so we have that information. Now, forecasts are forecast for a reason, so we can come in and maybe on a Tuesday afternoon, it\u2019s light, so we need to change pricing, and we can look at things that way. We won\u2019t know till we open on that stuff, but we\u2019ve made, I think, some pretty strong assumptions based on the information that we\u2019ve had running all of those experiences in different cities and capacity. And it was a conscious point to make the entire Netflix House free and open to the public, so you could walk in and explore and you don\u2019t have to pay for anything, but there\u2019s price points across every budget. So if you want to do the mini golf, or you want to do the VR which is a shorter time commitment, or if you want to come back to do the bigger, immersive experiences, then that\u2019s something else. And we\u2019ll push dynamic pricing, group pricing, all of that. It\u2019s sophisticated, but I would say that we\u2019ve had 10-million-plus fans walk through our touring experiences, so we have a lot of floor-and-ceiling data.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis interview has been edited and condensed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d blew up over the summer, Netflix was nearly finished with the Philadelphia location of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[19641,3548,19405,69,71,70],"class_list":{"0":"post-30976","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-marian-lee","9":"tag-netflix","10":"tag-netflix-house","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","13":"tag-philadelphia-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}