A takedown seems to be in order, as a Netflix animated darling has returned to dominate the Netflix competition. After becoming a chart-topper in 41 countries and one of the streamer’s most-watched titles globally, KPop Demon Hunters is back in the No. 1 spot on the most-watched list worldwide.
According to Netflix Tudum, Sony Animation’s fan-favourite chalked up 24.2 million views and 40.4 million viewing hours between 7 and 13 July. This also marks its fourth week in the top 10 charts, putting it on track to break Netflix’s record for the most-watched original animated film, currently held by 2023’s Leo. As What’s on Netflix notes, the Adam Sandler-starring pic was viewed 81.8 million times in its first four weeks, with Kpop Demon Hunters coming in at 80.3 million views within the same window.
It’s an impressive hold for the musical adventure, which continues to see a rise in viewership. It slipped marginally with the release of The Old Guard 2 on 2 July, but has since reclaimed its pole position in 15 countries as of the time of writing (per Flix Patrol).
The catchy songs used in and written for the movie certainly helped. Not only are they reigning over global charts, with seven of them currently on the Billboard Hot 100, but “Kpop Demon Hunters” is the highest-charting soundtrack of 2025 so far.
The story follows a fictional K-pop girl group, HUNTR/X (pronounced ‘Huntrix’), who lead double lives as demon hunters, and face off against a rival boy band called Saja Boys, whose members are secretly demons. While primarily in English, there are also Korean dialogue and cultural nods, including dokkaebi, or goblins, the jeoseung saja, the Korean equivalent of the grim reaper, and real-world locations like Namsan Park.
Arden Cho (Teen Wolf), May Hong (High Maintenance), and Ji-young Yoo (Moxie) lead the voice cast as vocalist and overall leader Rumi, visual-slash-main-dancer Mira, and rapper Zoey, respectively. The trio are joined by other notable industry faces, such as Squid Game star Lee Byung-hun as antagonist Gwi-ma, actor-singer Ahn Hyo-seop (Business Proposal) as Jinu, leader of the Saja Boys, Daniel Dae Kim (Hawaii Five-O) as Healer Han, and Ken Jeong (Crazy Rich Asians) as Bobby, the manager and main representative of HUNTR/X.
Renowned K-pop producer Teddy Park also contributed to the soundtrack with his work on “Golden”, Soda Pop”, and more. Popular girl group Twice’s Jeongyeon, Chaeyeong, and Jihyo performed the film’s opening number, “Takedown”, while previous songs like Exo’s “Love Me Right”, Twice’s “Strategy, and MeloMance’s “Love Maybe”, which most would recognise from the Korean drama Business Proposal, were also featured.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Joyce Ong
