“KPop Demon Hunters,” the animated phenomenon of the summer, is now the most-streamed movie in Netflix history.
The film about a K-pop girl group who track down mythical monsters when not filling stadiums and arenas has overtaken “Red Notice,” an action comedy with Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot, as the most-watched film on the service. “KPop Demon Hunters” has attracted 236 million total views compared to the 230.9 million that “Red Notice” garnered. Rounding out the top five list of films on Netflix’s most-streamed list are the Taron Egerton thriller “Carry-On,” the Leonardo DiCaprio satire “Don’t Look Up” and “The Adam Project,” an adventure film with Reynolds.
“KPop Demon Hunters” scored a rare theatrical release from Netflix last weekend. The streaming service did not publicly share box office results, but sources say it was the highest-grossing movie of the weekend, earning between $18 million to $20 million. “KPop Demon Hunters” was also the most-streamed movie last week on Netflix, attracting another 25.4 million views.
“KPop Demon Hunters” was directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans from a screenplay they co-wrote with Danya Jimenez and Hannah McMechan. It was based on a story conceived by Kang.
Arden Cho, Ahn Hyo-seop, May Hong and Ji-young Yoo lead the voice cast. The film’s original songs were written by Ejae, Jenna Andrews, Danny Chung, Ido, Vince, Kush, Daniel Rojas, Stephen Kirk, Lindgren and Mark Sonnenblick. The soundtrack was also a hit, topping charts.
Netflix debuted “KPop Demon Hunters” on June 20. Critics embraced the film’s style and inventiveness, with Variety’s Peter Debruge calling it “high-energy” and “high-concept” and the New York Times’ Brandon Yu praising it for creating a “charming, funny and artfully punchy original universe.”
