After two months on the streaming service, KPop Demon Hunters has officially surpassed Red Notice to become Netflix’s most popular movie ever. Consider the Honmoon sealed, hunters.
The animated musical took the crown on August 26, lapping the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Ryan Reynolds-led action comedy by six million streams. As of right now, KPop Demon Hunters has been viewed 236 million times, and that’s not even counting its limited-time singalong screenings in movie theaters this past weekend.
I hadn’t really been paying attention to what the most popular Netflix movies were until the Sony Animation film launched in June, but I was flabbergasted to see Red Notice, a movie with big names and no notable cultural cache, had such a massive gap between it and former runner-up Carry On, another movie I could not identify if you put a gun to my head. I know Don’t Look Up and Bird Box, though, which are also on the top 10 list. Shoutout to the children and families who have had Huntr/x’s tale on loop for the past two months, as you’ve no doubt been instrumental in securing this victory.
As a fan of the film, I’m happy to see KPop Demon Hunters soar, especially as it defies all expectations the companies behind it had for it. It’s such a colossal miscalculation on Sony and Netflix’s parts that they clearly didn’t anticipate this film would become such a cultural juggernaut. A better-prepared company would have dolls of the titular trio in the toy aisle of every store and costumes up for preorder for Halloween, and given the film more time in theaters than a two-day limited run. Nevertheless, it has become a huge hit with viewers of all ages. So long as Netflix lets the team cook and meaningfully continue the story, I can’t wait to see where it goes next.
