‘KPop Demon Hunters’ proves pop culture juggernaut with streaming, music chart accolades

“KPop Demon Hunters” isn’t just Netflix’s latest animated spectacle — it’s a full-on pop culture juggernaut. The film’s soundtrack has taken over the Billboard charts and is already being talked up as an Oscar contender, proving this K-pop powered adventure is striking a chord far beyond its fan base.

On the latest Billboard Hot 100 singles chart updated on July 9, the film’s main theme song “Golden,” performed by fictional girl group HUNTRIX, rocketed to No. 23 from No. 81 a week ago, a stunning leap of 58 spots. The fictional boy band Saja Boys’ track “Your Idol” surged to No. 31 from No. 77.

Five more tracks from the film debuted on the Hot 100 this week: “How It’s Done” landed at No. 42, followed by “Soda Pop” at No. 49; “What It Sounds Like” at No. 55; “Free” at No. 58 and “Takedown” — performed by K-pop powerhouse Twice — at No. 64.

With every song from the soundtrack now on the Hot 100, “KPop Demon Hunters” stands out as a rare animated film whose entire original soundtrack has entered the chart.

The film’s soundtrack also reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200, marking the highest-charting soundtrack album of the year. It is the best performance for an animated film’s soundtrack since Disney’s “Encanto” (2021), which spent nine weeks at No. 1 in 2022.

Industry watchers are already drawing parallels to “Encanto,” which scored nominations for Best Original Score, Best Original Song and Best Animated Feature at the 94th Academy Awards. Many predict “KPop Demon Hunters” could be a multi-category contender next year.

Netflix has confirmed it will submit “Golden” for best original song consideration. The Academy’s official X account even posted a playful nod, writing, “Huntrix didn’t just save the world, they also saved my Spotify Wrapped.”

Jim Roppo, CEO of Republic Records, which produced “Golden,” told Billboard in an interview published on July 9 that his three children are obsessed with “KPop Demon Hunters.”

“It has crossed the rubicon globally,” said Roppo, adding that the film is even appealing to viewers who previously did not watch any K-pop content on Netflix.

“This is not a K-pop phenomenon. Now, it’s a pop culture phenomenon,” he said.

Billboard, in a separate analysis, highlighted the song’s awards potential.

If “Golden” is nominated, the outlet wrote, Kim Eun-jae, who wrote the song and voiced the film’s lead character Rumi, would become the second Korean composer to receive an Oscar nomination. The first was Karen O, who has a Korean mother and was nominated in 2013 for co-writing “The Moon Song” with Spike Jonze for “Her” (2013).

Kim — known professionally as EJAE — once trained as a teen under SM Entertainment and later wrote hits like Red Velvet’s “Psycho” (2019) and aespa’s “Armageddon” (2024).

Lim Jin-mo, a prominent Korean pop music critic, said the film represents “not just a K-pop movie but a turning point showing that K-pop has entered the realm of global popular music, even global cultural phenomena.”

He likened it to “the music version of ‘Squid Game,’ another Netflix juggernaut that powerfully stamped Korean pop culture onto the world stage.”

U.S. entertainment publication Variety called “Golden” a “standout performer” on the soundtrack.

The outlet’s review of “KPop Demon Hunters” praised the film as being a “high-energy, high-concept supernatural action comedy” that incorporates “a far more playful approach to computer animation [that] takes its cues from webtoons and manhwa [Korean graphic novels], emphasizing dynamic silhouettes over smooth in-between movement.”

Entertainment website Collider singled out actor Ahn Hyo-seop, who voiced the male lead Jinu, of “oozing charm that sells the impact of Huntrix’s demonic K-pop rivals.”

The 2026 Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 2. A shortlist in 10 categories, including Best Original Song, is scheduled for release on Dec. 16, with final nominations announced Jan. 22.

BY HWANG JEE-YOUNG [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]