Five weeks after its release, Kpop Demon Hunters is still breaking new ground on Netflix. The animated action-adventure film from Sony Pictures Animation has become one of the biggest viral streaming hits of the year, seemingly making evangelists out of each new subscriber who gives it a chance. This comes despite relatively little marketing for the movie and a lack of major Hollywood heavyweights on its colorful pop singer cast.
Despite all this, the movie has gained massive popularity online, shooting up the Netflix charts, and its original soundtrack is becoming a streaming hit. It is a true word-of-mouth smash, and nothing exemplifies this better than a recent record the film broke, beating out other major Netflix titles like Damsel, The Electric State, and The Kissing Booth.
According to Netflix, Kpop Demon Hunters has made history for the platform, becoming the first Netflix original movie to reach a new viewing peak in its fifth week on the streamer.
This means that the hit animated action musical has managed to outdo itself in viewership numbers every week since it was released on June 20, instead of peaking early and tapering off as is often the case with major streaming releases.
Insider What's On Netflix has reported that the movie is likely to become Netflix's biggest animated film ever. It recently passed Adam Sandler's Leo on the all-time list and amassed over 80.3 million viewing minutes in its first four weeks on the platform.
Even more than a month on the platform, Kpop Demon Hunters has managed to stay in Netflix's Top 10 around the globe, still sitting in the number one spot in major territories like the U.S., France, and Canada.
Kpop Demon Hunters follows a demon-hunting female K-pop group that is forced to reckon with a deep, dark secret with the emergence of a mysterious demonic boy band. The movie features original music by Brazilian composer Marcelo Zarvos and includes references to some of the genre's biggest and best. The movie is sitting at a stellar 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the year's highest-rated films.
Will Kpop Demon Hunters 2 Happen?
Given the success of Kpop Demon Hunters, it would not be surprising if a potential sequel were already being discussed on Netflix.
The movie has proven to be a massive hit, with legs unlike anything released on the platform before, so it would be smart to capitalize on that goodwill and announce that a second movie is already in the works.
KPop Demon Hunters directors Chris Appelhans and Maggie Kang were recently quoted as saying that there are "many unanswered questions" coming out of the first animated adventure, potentially hinting that they are already looking at what they could do with a second movie:
"Yeah, so many unanswered questions, in a good way, and so many avenues that could be their own story that feels like so many possibilities, so yeah."
It will be interesting to see who is actually behind a potential Kpop Demon Hunters follow-up going forward. This was a Sony Pictures Animation production that was ultimately picked up by Netflix.
Typically, Sony Pictures films are known for going to theaters first before hitting the streamer as part of an ongoing agreement between the two studios, but this one forwent theaters entirely and headed right to Netflix before anywhere else.
This makes it unclear who exactly makes the call on making a second film, whether it would be another Netflix exclusive, and whether fans could potentially see it on the big screen.
