Netflix Animation “KPop Demon Hunters” Becomes a Global Phenomenon by Reaching Top 10 in 90 Countries and No. 1 in 40 Countries

Netflix’s original animation “KPop Demon Hunters” has captured worldwide attention, demonstrating that a fusion of K-pop and traditional culture is possible. Released on June 20, the series entered the top 10 in over 90 countries and topped the charts in more than 40 nations. It held the first position on Netflix’s movie chart for 11 consecutive days and received the highest rating among all Netflix films released this year on Rotten Tomatoes. “Golden,” a song performed by the K-pop girl group HUNTR/X within the film, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 16, becoming the first virtual idol to achieve this feat. Although fictional, it marks the first time for a K-pop girl group, the 23rd time for any female group, and the first time in nearly 25 years since Destiny’s Child that a female group has topped the chart. It is also the first time a girl group has reached the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 since Destiny’s Child’s “Bootylicious” in 2001. “Golden” also claimed No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 and Global (excluding the United States) charts, with HUNTR/X being the first virtual artist to lead both global charts simultaneously in the history of the Global 200 chart. On the Billboard 200 album chart dated September 20, the OST album reached No. 1. This is the seventh instance where an animated film’s soundtrack has topped the chart, with previous examples including “Encanto” (9 weeks at No. 1 in 2022), “Frozen II” (1 week at No. 1 in 2019), and “Frozen” (13 weeks at No. 1 in 2014). Debuting at No. 8 in its first week, the album stayed at No. 2 for seven consecutive weeks before reaching the top spot. It sold 128,000 album equivalents in the United States during the week ending September 11. By the third week, it had accumulated 9.6 billion music streams, achieving the highest weekly streaming figure for a soundtrack in over three years. In addition to “Golden,” a total of seven OST tracks, including “Your Idol” and “Soda Pop” by the male group SAZABOYZ featured in the film, entered the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. “Soda Pop” by SAZABOYZ reached No. 6 and No. 7 on the global charts, while “Your Idol” reached No. 3 and No. 5. The film is set in a dual-world scenario where the warrior girl group HUNTR/X, inspired by traditional shamanic figures, fights against evil spirits alongside the male group SAZABOYZ, modeled after guardian angels of the afterlife. Canadian-Korean director Maggie Kang incorporated various Korean elements throughout the movie, such as ramen consumption, the wearing of gat and dopo, and scenes set in Seoul’s Gangnam district. Through marketing and promotion, the “Soda Pop” dance challenge spread worldwide, with participation from famous idol groups, ordinary people, even elementary school students and their teachers. All the actual voice actors for the film’s OST are Korean-American musicians. Lee Jae, who voiced Rie, is a composer who was once a Trainee at SM Entertainment, while Audrey, who voiced Mira, is a hip-hop and R&B artist set to perform at the 2025 Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival. Rapper Ray Aimi voiced Joy. Andrew Choi, who portrayed Jinwoo of SAZABOYZ, has 17.54 million monthly Spotify listeners, placing him on par with BTS (27.7 million listeners) and BLACKPINK (20.4 million listeners). The outlet stated that the film humorously satirizes South Korea’s artificially created pop culture and is considered a strong contender for next year’s Academy Awards in the animated feature and original song categories. Director Maggie Kang said, “We really wanted to immerse the world in K-pop while also exposing people to the Korean language.”