‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Netflix’s Fourth Most-Viewed Film Of First-Half 2026 Almost A Year After Release – What We Watched Report
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- KPop Demon Hunters ranked fourth on Netflix's January-June 2026 most-viewed film list with 130.4 million views, behind War Machine, The Rip, and Swapped.
- The animated film has now accumulated 648.7 million lifetime views, making it Netflix's most popular film of all time — a stark rise from its 31st-place debut (36.7M views in 10 days) after premiering June 20, 2025, and its 481.6M-view run atop the H2 2025 chart.
- Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans directed the Sony Pictures Animation film, which won Oscars and Golden Globes for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song ("Golden" by Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami).
- The film swept all 10 of its nominations at the 53rd Annie Awards, and sequel plans were confirmed in August 2025.
Why it matters: KPop Demon Hunters' 648.7 million lifetime views — nearly a year after its June 2025 debut — prove Netflix's animated originals can sustain blockbuster-level interest long past release, not just opening-weekend spikes. With a sequel already greenlit and Oscar hardware in hand, Netflix has a rare long-tail animated franchise driving both prestige and sustained engagement metrics.
