Camille Naredo

Article (news)

KPop Demon Hunters

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:952px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17559414644531754970473766KPOP_mktg005_8KHigh_Lyrs_lm_v15 (1) (1).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="K-pop trio Huntrix from the film &#x27;KPop Demon Hunters.&#x27; Photo courtesy of Netflix"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">K-pop trio Huntrix from the film &#x27;KPop Demon Hunters.&#x27; <em>Photo courtesy of Netflix</em></span></span></span></div><p>LOS ANGELES -- Netflix&#x27;s gargantuan hit film &quot;KPop Demon Hunters&quot; has captured the global zeitgeist this summer, smashing streaming and music chart records. </p><p>Now, it is coming for movie theaters.</p><p>An animated musical about a trio of Korean pop starlets who fight demons with infectious songs and synchronized dance moves, &quot;Demon Hunters&quot; has been watched 210 million times and currently has five of the global top 10 songs on Spotify.</p><p>In an unlikely journey, the streaming mega-hit is tipped by analysts to hit number one at the box office this weekend, with thousands of cosplaying fans headed to sold-out &quot;singalong screenings&quot; in theaters across five countries.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/music/2025/8/12/-golden-from-kpop-demon-hunters-reaches-no-1-on-billboard-hot-100-1224">READ: &#x27;Golden&#x27; from &#x27;KPop Demon Hunters&#x27; reaches No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100</a></div><p>&quot;Insane, crazy, surreal,&quot; singer EJAE, who co-wrote the film&#x27;s biggest track &quot;Golden&quot; and performs heroine Rumi&#x27;s songs, told an advance screening at Netflix&#x27;s Hollywood headquarters this week.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m just really grateful I&#x27;m able to be part of this crazy cultural phenomenon.&quot;</p><p>For the uninitiated, the film&#x27;s premise is bizarre yet simple.</p><p>Demons who feed on human souls have been trapped in another realm by the powerful voices of girl group HUNTR/X.</p><p>To fight back, the demons secretly send their own devilishly handsome boy band to steal HUNTR/X&#x27;s fans and feast on their essences.</p><p>Rivalries ensue, loyalties fray, and an unlikely romance evolves over 90 minutes of power ballads and pop earworms, all against anime-style backdrops of Seoul&#x27;s modern skyline and traditional bathhouses and thatched hanok homes.</p><p>Released in June, &quot;KPop Demon Hunters&quot; is already Netflix&#x27;s most-watched animated offering, and sits second on the all-time chart for any original film. It is likely to take the top spot within the week.</p><p>&quot;This movie is a triple threat. It&#x27;s got fantastic writing. It has got stunning animation. And the songs are bangers,&quot; said Wendy Lee Szany, a Los Angeles-based movie critic and KPop devotee.</p><p>Indeed, songs by the movie&#x27;s fictional HUNTR/X and boy-band rivals Saja Boys occupy three of the Billboard top 10 -- a feat no movie soundtrack has achieved since the 1990s.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/movies-series/2025/8/6/-kpop-demon-hunters-debuts-at-no-4-on-netflix-s-most-popular-english-movies-0952">READ: &#x27;KPop Demon Hunters&#x27; debuts at No. 4 on Netflix&#x27;s Most-Popular English Movies</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Memes&#x27; -</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4zCShbCxSXU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></div><p>While combining the global KPop craze with sexy supernatural monsters might sound like an obvious recipe for Netflix&#x27;s much-vaunted algorithm, nobody expected &quot;Demon Hunters&quot; to take off on this scale.</p><p>It was made by Hollywood studio Sony Pictures, intended for the big screen, but sold to Netflix during the pandemic when many theaters were shuttered.</p><p>That may have worked to the film&#x27;s advantage, said John Nguyen, founder of pop culture website Nerd Reactor.</p><p>&quot;If Sony had released it in theaters, I don&#x27;t think it would have been as big,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s word-of-mouth. People shared it, talked about it, posted videos on social media of fans and families singing along in their living rooms.&quot;</p><p>Endless homespun TikTok dance videos have added to the momentum.</p><p>&quot;People who haven&#x27;t seen the movie yet are seeing these memes, they can&#x27;t escape it, so they just end up like, &#x27;Okay, I&#x27;m gonna sit down this weekend (and watch) on Netflix,&quot; said Szany.</p><p>&quot;And then they fall in love with it.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/movies-series/2025/7/31/-kpop-demon-hunters-named-netflix-s-most-watched-original-animated-film-1031">READ: &#x27;KPop Demon Hunters&#x27; named Netflix&#x27;s most-watched original animated film</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/2025/8/3/korean-cultural-center-opens-world-of-kpop-demon-hunters-to-filipino-fans-0158">READ: Korean Cultural Center opens world of ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ to Filipino fans</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Shattered&#x27; -</strong></div><p>Seeking to capitalize, Netflix -- usually averse to movie theaters -- is hosting &quot;singalongs&quot; at 1,700 North American cinemas this weekend.</p><p>Fans are invited to dress up, whip their phones out and film themselves singing at their top of their voices.</p><p>The approach has cinema traditionalists despairing, but earned Taylor Swift&#x27;s concert movie $260 million at the box office in 2023.</p><p>Early estimates suggest &quot;KPop Demon Hunters&quot; could make $15 million in domestic theaters and top this weekend&#x27;s box office.</p><p>Analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research said that figure seemed &quot;reasonable... for now,&quot; but could get &quot;shattered&quot; if a rush of demand causes theater owners to add extra screenings.</p><p>That would be a welcome shot in the arm for movie theaters, after the bleak years of Covid-19, Hollywood strikes, and younger audiences migrating to -- ironically -- streaming.</p><p>&quot;There were literally so many kids singing their hearts out,&quot; said Szany, who attended Netflix&#x27;s advance singalong, and has watched the film at least eight times.</p><p>&quot;I was like, wow, they know all the lyrics better than I do.&quot;</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>In an unlikely journey, "KPop Demon Hunters" is tipped by analysts to hit number one at the box office this weekend, with thousands of cosplaying fans headed to sold-out "singalong screenings" in theaters across five countries.</p>

In an unlikely journey, "KPop Demon Hunters" is tipped by analysts to hit number one at the box office this weekend, with thousands of cosplaying fans headed to sold-out "singalong screenings" in theaters across five countries.

'KPop Demon Hunters' craze hits theaters after topping Netflix, music charts

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'KPop Demon Hunters' craze hits theaters after topping Netflix, music charts

Agence France-Presse,

Andrew Marszal

Published August 23, 2025 07:12 PM PHT

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Updated August 25, 2025 01:11 AM PHT

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showbiz

movies

KPop Demon Hunters

Netflix

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