'K-Pop Demon Hunters' Marks 1 Year With a Record-Shattering Run

A year after its worldwide release on June 20, 2025, Netflix's 〈K-Pop Demon Hunters〉 continues to set major streaming and music-chart records. The film was released worldwide on June 20, 2025, and more than a year later remains a frequent topic of conversation. Based on the premise that the K-pop girl group Huntrix are the Demon Hunters who for generations have guarded the peninsula's "Honmun," 〈K-Pop Demon Hunters〉 has continued to set records no one has yet topped and has become one of the most famous franchises of the 21st century. Ahead of its first anniversary on June 20, 2026, here is a brief roundup of the records 〈K-Pop Demon Hunters〉 has set.

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Netflix firsts, longest runs, most records!

Produced by Sony Pictures Animation and distributed by Netflix, 〈K-Pop Demon Hunters〉 showed how strategic planning and Netflix's global reach can amplify a release. As the K-pop wave continued to build, Sony Pictures Animation prepared a story about a K-pop girl group that are secretly demon hunters. It was the first time in Hollywood that K-pop idols and their music were the central subject, and Netflix—having already taken note of the global impact of Korean content with titles like Squid Game and All of Us Are Dead—bought the distribution rights and brought the project to its OTT platform.

〈K-Pop Demon Hunters〉 delivered dominant viewership numbers after its release and, even within Netflix, repeatedly set "first" records. It became the first title in Netflix history to surpass 300 million views and 500 million hours watched. Unlike the typical pattern—where viewing spikes immediately after release and then tapers off after three weeks—〈K-Pop Demon Hunters〉 started with modest early numbers that rose gradually and then entered a long run. As a result, even as it reached its one-year mark it has never left the global Top 10, becoming the first Netflix title to spend 52 consecutive weeks in the global Top 10. Available figures put the film at 600 million views and 1 billion hours watched. Buoyed by that popularity, Netflix gave the film a limited theatrical run in some cinemas, and during that run it recorded No. 1 on the weekend box office chart, making it the first OTT original to reach No. 1 at the box office.

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Billboard firsts, highest peaks, longest runs!

The film's success did not stop at the movie itself. Even more successful were the musical numbers the film presented—better described as original K-pop songs than traditional musical theater pieces. Songs featured in the film, such as the thematic "Golden," the opening number "How It's Done," the performance piece the reapers use to disguise themselves as a K-pop group, "Soda Pop," and the ritual-like "Your Idol," became massive hits. "Golden" became the fastest musical-animation OST to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify, claiming the record for the most-streamed song from a musical animation OST. The popularity carried over offline as well: on Billboard's main chart, the Hot 100, it spent eight weeks at No. 1, making it the first K-pop girl group to reach No. 1. The four songs mentioned all charted on the Hot 100 and remained in the Hot 100's Top 10 for five weeks, marking the first time an OST placed four songs in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10. Across global music charts, the 〈K-Pop Demon Hunters〉 OST continued to set new records.

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The most powerful IP to emerge in the 2020s

Those records still don't capture the full scope of 〈K-Pop Demon Hunters〉's impact. Alongside the success of the "virtual girl group," the performers who provided the characters' vocals received renewed attention. The vocalists Lee Jae, Audrey Nuna and Rey Ami were effectively recognized as the real-world Huntrix and appeared live on a variety of stages, including The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the American Music Awards, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and the Academy Awards stage. Even though only a single film has been released so far in the franchise, its ripple effects have been enormous. Domestic and international outlets have valued the franchise at least 1 trillion won, and analysts estimate the spillover effect exceeds 3 trillion won. Unofficial tallies list it as the most-streamed film and soundtrack of 2025 and the most-searched film of the year—meaning this barely one-year-old franchise enters its first anniversary with a presence that dwarfs many established franchises.