The success of Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters has shattered every expectation, but it has not ended its world dominance just yet. After completely destroying the long-standing record viewership of Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot’s Red Notice, which had just over 230 million views, the animated phenomenon has now become the undisputed most-viewed movie or TV show as it charges towards 300 million views.
The latest figures mean that KPop Demon Hunters has surpassed the first season of Squid Game, which had over 265 million views in its first 91 days, to become the most-viewed anything on the platform by some way. What is more, the movie is not done yet, as even now, months after its initial release and following its theatrical sing-along, the film is still number one on the global Netflix chart.
Naturally, the movie’s total hours views doesn’t come anywhere close to the billions that Squid Game and Wednesday have attracted, but that is hardly surprising with the movie having a runtime of just over 100 minutes compared to around eight hours for most series on Netflix. However, it is impossible to take anything away from the unprecedented – and possibly never to be repeated – achievement of KPop Demon Hunters, especially considering its almost perfect reviews, dominance of the music charts, and everything else considered.
‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Is a Movie That Subverts Expectations
There are some movies that just grab hold of audiences and refuse to let go. KPop Demon Hunters was originally made by Sony Pictures and passed to Netflix as part of their content deal. While this did not turn out great for Sony, Netflix now have their hands on a potential $1 billion franchise. How did it get there? It delivered a well-written, beautifully animated movie, full of songs that invade the brain and refuse to leave.
For many, the marketing of the movie, still images releases, and even the music video-esque song clips shared on social media, all suggest that the movie is aimed at mostly young girls and is going to be filled with cringy, obsessed K-Pop band nonsense. Instead, the movie actually manages to poke fun at this kind of over-the-top fandom in a fun way, and builds a story that never stops offering surprising turns, humor, and pure pop soundtrack.
KPop Demon Hunters is a movie that defied all expectations to land near-perfect reviews from both critics and audiences, with the latter scoring the movie 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. It has produced number one songs, broken dozens of records, and seems to be a film that is going to prove almost impossible to beat in the future. As it shows no sign of slowing in its popularity, it seems that KPop Demon Hunters has every chance of still being firmly in everyone’s mind when the first sequel rolls out in the coming years.
KPop Demon Hunters
- Release Date
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June 20, 2025
- Runtime
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96 minutes
- Director
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Chris Appelhans, Maggie Kang
- Writers
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Hannah McMechan, Chris Appelhans, Maggie Kang, Danya Jimenez
- Producers
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Aron Warner
