The streaming giant’s surprise summer hit, KPop Demon Hunters, has become Netflix’s most-watched English language film of all time, racking up 314.2 million views worldwide through Sept. 14.
The animated film about a Korean supergirl group, Huntr/x, that slays demons between belting out hit songs has been one of the streamer’s 10 most-watched movies for 13 straight weeks in both the U.S. and in South Korea since its June 20 debut. It’s the No. 1 movie in 39 countries this week, racking up more than 523.6 million hours cumulatively viewed.
The KPop Demon Hunters’ soundtrack hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart on Sunday, earning 128,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ended Sept. 11, and after spending seven nonconsecutive weeks at No. 2.
KPop Demon Hunters’ success positions Netflix as a potential challenger to Disney, its likeness slapped on everything from Halloween costumes to bedding, backpacks, and instant noodles. The film is drawing comparisons to Disney’s princesses franchise and speculation about whether it could challenge Disney’s global dominance in content, merchandise, and licensing deals.
“This is a potential new ground for Netflix, and they are getting more into this new area of content which is a global trend,” Dan Ives, senior equity analyst for Wedbush Securities, told Barron’s. “We see this as a potential growth catalyst and a shot across the bow at Disney.”
Netflix stock is up nearly 36% this year, versus Disney’s 3.2% gain. Barron’s named Netflix a Buy in May, calling it a stock that can outperform in uncertain economic times.
Rivaling the princesses
Richard Haigh, managing director of Brand Finance, a London-based brand valuation and strategy consultancy, estimates the value of the Disney’s princess franchise, including content, merchandise, and brand partnerships, at approximately $4 billion, or around 9% of Disney’s total brand value.
With KPop Demon Hunters, Netflix similarly could have a billion-dollar opportunity on its hands. The film features vibrant visuals by Sony Pictures Animation, which created Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and a memorable original soundtrack by composer Marcelo Zarvos of The Diplomat.
The movie’s scenes of Huntr/x’s protective shield rippling across the Earth could just as easily illustrate the movie’s exploding fandom.
Illustrative of its power to draw audiences, in one August weekend alone, KPop Demon Hunters sold an estimated $18 million worth of movie theater tickets for sing-along screenings, including more than 1,150 sold-out theaters in the U.S. and Canada, becoming Netflix’s first No. 1 box office hit.
Despite the limited theatrical screenings over two days, KPDH sold an average of $10,286 per theater, compared with a per-theater average of $4,296 for Warner Bros.’ Weapons, the No. 2 movie that same weekend, according to Comscore. Disney’s animated Frozen II, in comparison, sold a per-theater average of $29,339 when it opened in November 2019, Comscore said.
Netflix has “long scoffed” at the idea of releasing its films in theaters except to make them eligible for Academy Awards or to satisfy A-list filmmakers, says Guggenheim analyst Michael Morris.
“The fact that ‘KPop’ was even released in theaters is a testament to its extraordinary popularity,” he wrote in a recent note, adding that many theater chains have resisted playing movies that audiences can stream at home. AMC Entertainment, the largest theater chain operator in the U.S., opted out of showing KPDH for this reason.
Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian said that the synergy created between Netflix’s small-screen presentation and that single weekend in theaters “definitely showcased the power of the small screen to power a big-screen phenomenon and vice versa. I think all the streaming services are realizing that for some marquee titles and some global types of cinema, that the movie theater is a fantastic way to showcase their movies and their brands.”
A merchandising bonanza
That sing-along version of the film has been released to streaming audiences, and Netflix has started selling KPDH merchandise, though it hasn’t said what else it is planning. But the opportunities for cashing in appear to be broad.
It paid Sony Pictures Entertainment $20 million in addition to its nearly $100 million production budget to stream KPDH, and is paying an extra $5 million to keep those rights in perpetuity, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the deal.
Branded merchandise it is rolling out includes clothing, accessories, and souvenirs, from lead singer Rumi’s electric yellow concert jacket ($89.95) to Huntr/x fan T-shirts ($36.95) to Derpy tiger backpacks ($59.95). Funko is taking pre-orders for Funko Pop figurines ($14.99) at Funko.com, at the Netflix Shop, and soon in select retailers.
KPop Demon Hunters-themed items created by fans are showing up in a search on Etsy, the online marketplace for crafts.
Although KPop Demon Hunters is an American film written and produced for English-speaking audiences, the story is set in Korea. The tale of pop superstars whose songs protect their fans from the underworld, including their swoon-worthy rivals, the Saja Boys, comes from co-director and screenwriter Maggie Kang.
The film’s creative team, cast, and singers are South Korean and Korean-American film, music, and K-pop stars, and the producers and songwriters include the people behind groups including BLACKPINK and BTS. The K-pop supergroup TWICE performs the song “Takedown” during the closing credits.
Jae-Ha Kim, a journalist and expert on K-pop, K-dramas, and other entertainment, calls the film “Korean adjacent,” meaning that it incorporates Korean traditions and pop culture references into a “super fun, but also surprisingly touching movie about a girl group trying to save the world from demons, who are everywhere.”
She notes that it also includes references K-drama fans will recognize, such as the fact that the word saja, depending on the context, can mean “lion” or “grim reaper.”
The film, expressed in Korean by its phonetic initials KeDeHun, also pays homage to Koreans’ love of instant noodles, sing-alongs, and public spas — and companies are racing to take advantage.
Nongshim, Korea’s No.1 instant noodle company, is offering a limited-edition line of Shin Ramyun, Shrimp Crackers, and Shin Toomba Sauce featuring Huntr/x’s Rumi, Mira, Zoey, the Saja Boys, and Derpy the tiger, available in Korea, North America, Europe, Oceania, Southeast Asia, and Mexico.
When Nongshim released the first 1,000 six-packs of KPop Demon Hunters-branded Shin Ramyun cups like the kind Huntr/x eats in the movie, they sold out in 1 minute 40 seconds, Forbes reported. Those KPDH-branded noodle packs are now selling for up to $56.99 on eBay, not including import tariffs.
Taking another cue from Disney
Successful movie soundtracks have long been Disney’s domain—with memorable earworms including Aladdin’s “A Whole New World,” The Lion King’s “Circle of Life,” and Frozen’s “Let It Go.” Billboard said KPop Demon Hunters is the first No. 1 soundtrack since Disney’s Encanto in 2022, and last month, KPDH’s “Golden” became the first Hot 100 No. 1 song by a fictional act since Encanto’s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”
KPop Demon Hunters’ fictional bands are “breaking K-pop records set by the bands BTS and Blackpink,” Netflix told shareholders. It is the first soundtrack to score four simultaneous Top 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, including “Golden” hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Global Charts. It is also the highest-charting soundtrack this year, with more than three billion global streams and counting, Netflix said.
Netflix has said it plans to submit “Golden” in the Best Original Song category at next year’s Academy Awards.
The soundtrack is available to order in digital, CD, or LP from Republic Records ($64.98 with a Huntr/x T-shirt), or to download from Apple Music and Spotify ($10.99 a month or $11.99 a month, respectively). Netflix and Sony get a cut of proceeds from the soundtrack.
On Apple Music, KPop Demon Hunters’ soundtrack is the No. 1 album, and four singles “Golden,” “Soda Pop,” “Your Idol,” and “How It’s Done” are currently in the top 10.
Besides becoming the No. 1 movie soundtrack on Spotify, KPDH is the first K-pop album to be No. 1 on both the U.S. Apple Music chart and on iTunes charts, with seven tracks in the Billboard Hot 100, Netflix said.
Becoming a cultural touchstone
Ellie Choi, associate in research at the Korea Institute at Harvard University, attributes the film’s unexpected success to a combination of an engaged social media presence globally, exhaustion with Western media tropes that overemphasize romance, sex, and individualism, and a return to postcolonial magical realism.
“But aside from this, the film is just very positive and uplifting,” featuring a song (“Golden”) about acceptance that is written and performed by “someone who has struggled for a long time — EJae,” she said. “We all need this message today.”
Asked about the film during Netflix’s second-quarter earnings call in July, Netflix’s Co-CEO and Director Theodore Sarandos said of its mix of music and pop culture: “getting it right matters, the storytelling matters. The innovation in animation itself matters.”
“And the fact that people are in love with this film and in love with the music from this film, that’ll keep it going for a long time. So we’re really thrilled,” Sarandos added.
Singer-songwriter EJAE, or Kim Eun-jae, who spent more than a decade training to be a K-pop singer without becoming a breakout star, told the Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper that she channeled her journey of resilience and strength into Huntr/x’s songs. “I never gave up on the hope that all those years of effort as a young trainee wouldn’t be in vain. Seeing it all come to fruition now feels like destiny.”
Dan Lam contributed to this article.
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