Netflix’s latest hit, KPop Demon Hunters, has taken the streaming world by storm, becoming the most-watched original movie on the platform. This article explores its remarkable success and what sets it apart from other films.
Why ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Stands Out on Netflix’s Most-Watched List
Netflix recently confirmed its most-watched movies of all time, and unless you’ve been living under a rock recently, you probably know what’s in the top spot. KPop Demon Hunters officially became the most popular Netflix original movie of all time, with 236 million views and 393.3 million hours of total viewing time since its release in June.
The film, directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, follows the K-pop girl group Huntr/X that moonlights as badass demon hunters.
Some distance behind is Red Notice, with 230.9 million views, then last year’s thriller Carry-On with 172.1 million.
The platform determines rankings using total views for each film’s first 91 days of release. Here is the full list from Netflix:
- KPop Demon Hunters (236 million views)
- Red Notice (230.9 million views)
- Carry-On (172.1 million views)
- Don’t Look Up (171.4 million views)
- The Adam Project (157.6 million views)
- Bird Box (157.4 million views)
- Back in Action (147.2 million views)
- Leave the World Behind (143.4 million views)
- The Grey Man (139.3 million views)
- Damsel (138 million views)
The newcomer’s rise to the top represents a significant shift in Netflix’s movie landscape.
Red Notice, starring Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot, has held the #1 spot since 2021. KPop Demon Hunters managed to surpass it with a much more targeted approach.
The 2021 action-comedy represented Netflix’s traditional big-budget approach, featuring stars in a global heist thriller. With a production budget of approximately $200 million (and $80 million in star salaries), the film is the epitome of Netflix’s strategy of competing with theatrical blockbusters through massive star power and familiar formulas.
However, Red Notice faced criticism for what The Hollywood Reporter called “empty-calorie entertainment” with “more glossy industrial sheen than unique personality.”
Despite achieving massive viewership, the film’s reliance on algorithm-friendly elements rather than authentic storytelling represents the exact opposite approach to that of KPop Demon Hunters.
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Carry-On, Netflix’s third most-watched film, represents a more recent success story that shares some DNA with KPop Demon Hunters in terms of focused storytelling.
The 2024 thriller starring Taron Egerton as a TSA agent showed that mid-budget thrillers can do well. Produced through Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners, the film received 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.
KPop is similar to another of the top 10, Bird Box, in that both films felt like events.
Both became significant cultural phenomena and major streaming successes, capturing large audiences and conversations. Bird Box was viewed by more than 45 million accounts worldwide within its first seven days, setting a record for Netflix’s biggest opening ever for a film.
Of course, KPop‘s success off the platform is even bigger.
The movie even received a limited theatrical release that sent it to the top of the domestic box office, earning between $18 million and $20 million (per Variety). The soundtrack just made history on the Billboard Hot 100, too. Four of its songs landed in the Top 10 at the same time, which is a first in the chart’s 67-year run.
Sony Pictures Animation spent $100 million developing the film, but will reportedly get only $20 million due to its distribution deal with Netflix, which was brokered during the uncertainty of the pandemic, according to Forbes.
The film is clearly tapping into something here—young audiences want to watch it again and again, but it appeals to broader viewers of all ages. It manages this appeal while also being hyperspecific in its K-pop origins and fantasy elements.
