By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Another week, another history-making feat for KPop Demon Hunters, which was released back on June 20, and in what feels like a lifetime ago, was considered a success for becoming the top movie on Netflix. Turns out, that was the warm-up act for the ladies of HUNTR/X. Over two months later, KPop Demon Hunters has become the first film in streaming history to occupy not one, but two spots in the top five. The original film is currently at #3 at the time of this writing, and the Sing-Along version is #5, not bad for an animated movie about Korean pop stars.
This feat goes beyond being unprecedented, as now KPop Demon Hunters has officially entered the Bill Murray zone, where any article you see about the film is going to be believed no matter how wild and outlandish it sounds. Most successful movie in Netflix history? Check. A Billboard #1 album? Check. The #1 movie in America two months after it was available on streaming? Check. Any one of those would make these the most successful movie of 2025, but just when we thought the band HUNTR/X was done breaking records, it raised the bar to an impossible standard.
KPop Demon Hunters doesn’t hide what it is, it’s right there in the title, Kpop stars work as demon hunters to save humanity, and the film itself is unabashedly earnest. The team at Sony Pictures won over young women in a way that Disney wishes they could still pull off. I even know plenty of parents who have admitted to rocking out to “Golden” or the evil Saja Boys hit “Soda Pop.”
A lot of the credit for the record-breaking success goes to the talented vocal cast, including Arden Choi as Rumi, May Hong as Mira, and Ji-young Yoo as Zoey, though the songs are performed by Korean pop star Ejae, American singer Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami, respectively. Netflix star Lee Byung-ham, known now for Squid Game, but his breakthrough back in 2000 with Park Chan-wook’s underrated Joint Security Area, voices the Demon King Gwi-Ma. Though the ladies of HUNTR/X don’t fight him directly this time, there’s always a sequel.
According to multiple interviews, the partnership between Sony and Netflix may be unconventional; it was developed by Sony and distributed by Netflix to bypass movie theaters entirely, but it’s been a wild success for everyone involved. That’s without the upcoming wave of tie-in merchandise to capitalize on the surprise success of the film, and as Mel Brooks taught us, that’s where the real money is.
A sequel is inevitable, though it could be some time before we get to see it. KPop Demon Hunters spent four years in production, and the pressure to live up to the record-setting original will be immense. By the time the sequel arrives, will the fanbase still be as passionate and excited as they are right now?
Of course they will be, have you seen footage of a BTS concert? KPop Demon Hunters was aimed with the care and precision of a sniper rifle right at the intersection of the Anime and K-Pop fanbase. When Sony and Netflix take that second shot, it will have the full weight of both studios behind it, and there will be no safe place on the planet from the marketing tsunami that will consume everything in its path. By then, who knows how many more records KPop Demon Hunters will shatter?
