From Seoul to screens everywhere, Netflix’s new hit-movie "KPop Demon Hunters" has captivated audiences. However, unknown to many, its development wasn’t as smooth as the movie’s success. According to developers, Sony didn’t expect the film to become a breakout hit. In fact, an insider told The Hollywood Reporter that, because this was a new IP, they “didn’t think it would land,” calling the outcome “just bad luck for them.” Fortunately for them and Netflix, this wasn’t the case.
For those who haven’t yet enjoyed the movie just yet, in the animated film, we follow Rumi and her fictional K-pop group Huntr/x, a heroic idol team who secretly hunt demons, as they clash with the Saja Boys, a rival demon idol group that wants to take their place and break the seal holding their kind back from taking over the world.
But as much as people enjoy the film’s fluid animation and compelling story, its soundtrack has been the film’s greatest strength in climbing Netflix’s leaderboards. With help from Grammy-nominated producers who’ve worked with K-pop industry giants such as BTS, TWICE and TXT, the film’s soundtrack popped up on the Billboard 200 early on and has stayed there.
It debuted at No. 8 on Billboard, the highest debut for a soundtrack in 2025, and later climbed to No. 3, making it the highest-charting soundtrack of the year. Not only that, but it became the first Netflix soundtrack in two years to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Soundtracks chart. Most notably, the song "Golden," sung by Huntr/x in the movie, hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Global 200 and Global Excl. US. This success made it the first all-female K-pop group to top the Billboard Streaming Songs chart ever. On top of that, on Spotify, both Huntr/x and the Saja Boys became the highest-charting K-pop acts in the United States, despite being completely fictional.
Given this success, “KPop Demon Hunters” quickly became Netflix’s most-watched movie ever. It has garnered over 240 million views at the time of this article and overtook previous champion "Red Notice." The sing-along theater release has also drawn tens of thousands of fans to sold-out screenings across the globe, earning over 20 million in the North American box office in a weekend.
When asking local fans about what they enjoyed most, Ashrith Doddapaneni '28 said that, “The soundtrack really surprised me. I thought the songs would be mid but they’re actually really good. I’ve put of few of them in my playlist already.”
Speaking of the fans, fan-art, covers, and dance choreography has taken over social media, with millions of videos using the soundtrack’s various hits. Even celebrities such as tennis legend Novak Djokovic have gotten in on the action, dancing along to the song “Soda Pop” like many, many others.
Given the film’s massive success, a sequel has already been green-lit and is in production, allegedly exploring deeper into the backstories of the Huntr/x group. No formal release date has been announced yet, but Netflix and Sony are likely working hard to provide more KPop Demon Hunters as soon as possible.
Griffin Xu '28 is a biology and journalism double major and first-year staff writer for The Cluster. In his free time he enjoys reading and spending time with his friends.
