'KPop Demon Hunters' Craze Sets New Netflix Records and Wins a 'Golden' Grammy Award

The Netflix animated film 'KPop Demon Hunters,' which tells the story of K-POP demon hunters, achieved the best streaming results of 2025. According to Nielsen data, it was watched for 20.5 billion minutes in the United States, ranking first among all films released in the following year, which equates to approximately 20.7 million complete viewings. It far surpassed 'Moana 2' in second place with 9.4 billion minutes and 'Happy Gilmore 2' in third place with 7.1 billion minutes, holding a lead of over 11 billion minutes ahead of the next closest titles. Despite being released in June, the film recorded significantly higher cumulative viewing numbers than films released in the first half of the year. While films released in the first half typically enjoy longer distribution periods, 'KPop Demon Hunters' maintained a strong presence at the top of streaming charts throughout the latter part of the year, proving its powerful appeal for repeat views. The film’s theme song, 'Golden,' achieved even more remarkable results. It ranked second among Amazon Alexa’s most popular songs of 2025 behind Rosé and Bruno Mars’s 'APT,' and it stayed at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for a full 8 weeks. The soundtrack album featuring this song, created for the film’s fictional K-POP girl group HUNTR/X, topped the Billboard 200, becoming the best-selling soundtrack of 2025. EJAE, who co-produced and composed the song, won the 'Best Original Song' award at the 2026 Golden Globe Awards, setting a historic record as the first Korean-American to receive a Golden Globe. EJAE spent 10 years as a trainee at SM Entertainment from the age of 11 but failed to debut. After moving to the United States, she continued her studies at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. A turning point in her life came in 2019 when she co-composed Red Velvet’s 'Psycho.' Since then, she has established herself as a top composer by writing hit songs for famous K-POP artists such as aespa, TWICE, LE SSERAFIM, and NMIXX. In her acceptance speech for the Golden Globe award, EJAE shared an emotional message saying, "When I was young, I worked tirelessly for my dream for 10 years but was rejected. Rejection is a change in direction—never give up. You are meant to shine from the moment you are born." Amazon Music recently recognized her value by naming her 'Artist of the Year.'