Netflix’s animated musical KPop Demon Hunters continues to top charts. Since dropping in June, the Sony Pictures Animation fantasy has pulled in more than 236 million views and snagged the crown as Netflix’s most-watched English-language movie ever. That means it beat out Red Notice, which starred the combined star power of Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot.
By late August, the movie had already been crowned Netflix’s most popular film of all time. Then, during the Sept. 22–28 window, KPop Demon Hunters celebrated its fifteenth straight week on Netflix’s Top 10 chart. That’s a new record for English-language films.
Red Notice managed fourteen appearances in total, but KPop Demon Hunters hit fifteen in a row, eight of them at No. 1 and seven at No. 2. It hasn’t dropped lower than second place yet. In its fifteenth week, the film still drew 19.3 million views. That’s almost double what the No. 2 title (Ruth & Boaz) managed with 10.3 million.
Part of the appeal comes from the story itself. Huntr/x, a K-pop trio made up of Rumi, Zoey, and Mira, spend half their lives chasing Billboard spots and the other half battling demons. Rumi, voiced by Arden Cho, leads the pack in the first film, but co-director Maggie Kang has already teased that Zoey and Mira’s stories could play a bigger role in the sequel. “This was Rumi’s story, and we have backstories for Zoey and Mira,” Kang told Variety. “Obviously, there’s a lot of questions that are left unanswered and areas that are not explored.”
If the box office is anything to go by, audiences are ready. The sing-along theatrical version, released August 22–24, raked in an estimated $19.2 million and sold out more than 1,300 screenings worldwide. For a Netflix-backed film with just 1,700 theaters in play, that’s no small feat. The streamer quickly rolled that version onto its platform, turning what started as a limited event into a global streaming party. Fans happily joined in.
And that soundtrack is a beast on its own. With four tracks in the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 10 at the same time, the music practically doubled as a K-pop comeback. Ejae, the 33-year-old singer and songwriter behind Rumi’s vocals, co-wrote the biggest hits, including “Golden” and “Your Idol.” She told fans at a sing-along in Los Angeles, “I’m speechless. This has all been insane. I’ve been crying a lot.”
Behind the scenes, Netflix shelled out $100 million plus a $25 million fee to secure streaming rights for KPop Demon Hunters, while Sony still gets a slice of the soundtrack and publishing revenue. It also helps that Netflix animation chief Hannah Minghella and Sony Animation head Kristine Belson go way back, making the partnership less of a clash and more of a tag-team win.
With a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score and fans still blasting the soundtrack months later, KPop Demon Hunters has already proven itself more than a one-hit wonder. Talks of a sequel are happening, with directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans expected to return. If they can pull off another crossover success (dominating theaters, Billboard, and Netflix charts at the same time), your next demon-hunting playlist might be even closer than you think.
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