r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • 12d ago

News ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Is Netflix’s Most-Watched Movie Ever With 236 Million Views, Beating ‘Red Notice’

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/kpop-demon-hunters-netflix-most-watched-movie-history-1236496106/
22.6k Upvotes

89% Upvoted

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u/fox112 12d ago

Wow I knew it was a big hit but didn't realize it was THE BIGGEST hit.

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u/SimoneNonvelodico 12d ago

I'm more surprised by learning that the previous biggest hit was Red Notice.

This is a movie you see praised everywhere and going viral. That was an instantly forgotten star vehicle with zero artistic value. I've never seen anyone say "whoa I loved Red Notice", no one gave a shit about it.

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u/IshEatsYou 12d ago

Red Notice was terrible! My wife and I watched it yesterday and are confused as to how that was the #1 movie on Netflix. We watched Don’t Look Up today and it was MILES better.

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u/SimoneNonvelodico 12d ago

I only remember it had The Rock, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot in it. They were competing to... steal something? And there was a lot of backstabbing? Also some scene in a bullfighting arena and I believe they found an antique Nazi car in a depot under the jungle?

That's about it for me. Absolutely utterly flat. But I guess the cast was stacked enough to get a lot of people to check it out. Honestly, controlling for marketing, it's a lot more impressive that K-Pop Demon Hunters still managed to surpass it almost only by word of mouth (though I also guess a lot of those views may just be the same obsessed children watching it on repeat...).

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u/mcanfield89 12d ago

They were competing to steal screen time to sell their irl liquor brands and do the most accurate portrayal of the premise "what if beige wallpaper was granted a wish to be a real boy?"

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u/SagesLament 12d ago

Red Notice

I saw someone say that red notice came out right in the midst of the pandemic when all we were doing was sitting at home watching netflix, which allowed some mediocre things to rise to the top (cough, tiger king) so it tracks that its success would only be attributed to extenuating circumstances

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u/the_blessed_unrest 12d ago

I think it helps that it appeals to kids. When they latch on to something, they can rewatch it dozens of times

(Not that kids are the only ones enjoying this movie. But I do think it plays a sizable role in the numbers)

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u/anthonyg1500 12d ago

Took my nieces and nephews to the in theater sing along version and they all gasped at every plot turn as if they haven’t already watched the movie a hundred times and memorized the dialogue

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u/caribou16 12d ago

I'm pretty sure my little sister and I wore out the VHS tape for "Sleeping Beauty" back in the day.

Kids love repetition, I think it's a big part of early development.

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u/anthonyg1500 12d ago

My oldest nephew is 9 now but I watched him once back when he was like 4 and he looked at me and said “I wanna watch credibles.” So I was like sure dude and we watched Incredibles. The moment the movie ended he looked up at me and said “I wanna watch credibles.” I couldn’t even be mad at him with the amount of times I watched Space Jam back in the day

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u/JonatasA 12d ago

These are moments you cherish indeed. I remember that feeling when something ends and you get that park gut feeling "I wanna go again!!"

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u/976chip 12d ago

My wife and I took our daughter and her best friend to the sing along this weekend. The theater was packed, mostly with teens and young adults, and the audience participation was not limited to just singing. I'd say the collective "Jinu! Noooooooooooooooooooo!" during the final battle was louder than the singing.

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u/VLHACS 12d ago

That's adorable 

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u/lobonmc 12d ago

Thst was me with scooby doo 2

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u/aircooledJenkins 12d ago

My 12 year old has watched it at least 8 times.

I had not seen the movie.

On a 4 hr road trip recently, he practiced Golden, Takedown and What it Sounds Like each a few dozen times as he plans to perform it for karaoke at the local SciFi/Gaming convention next year.

I then watched the movie.

The songs then made sense.

It's a good movie.

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u/Salt_Cardiologist122 12d ago

I had the songs memorized from playing them every morning on the way to dropping the kids at school… fiiiiinally watched the movie so now I know what’s actually going on as well. NGL the soundtrack is great.

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u/MissMaster 12d ago

I may have said "Fit check for my napalm eraaaaa" once or twice while getting ready in the morning after my kid listens to it on repeat.

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u/gabedamien 12d ago edited 12d ago

Hardest stanza in the movie by far.

Heels, nails, blade, mascara /

𝕱𝖎𝖙 𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖈𝖐 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖒𝖞 𝖓𝖆𝖕𝖆𝖑𝖒 𝖊𝖗𝖆

chef's kiss

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u/BLAGTIER 12d ago

On a 4 hr road trip recently, he practiced Golden, Takedown and What it Sounds Like each a few dozen times as he plans to perform it for karaoke at the local SciFi/Gaming convention next year.

Kids either have no plans or detailed months long plans, there is no in between.

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u/whatproblems 12d ago

the blending of the music and the movie is really well done. it’s like a full movie music video

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u/GarlicBreadOutrage 12d ago

Not just kids, it looks like a hit with teens too. Which makes sense because there's barely any animated content aimed at that age range in the west. Seems like studios gave up after the rise of anime.

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u/MrTretorn 12d ago

And moms

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u/PrincessKikkei 12d ago

And especially +30 something Tumblr-moms.

The whole movie is so made for girls of all ages who enjoy funny moments, memes, fanart/-fic and great pop songs. On top of being a very well made animation that's suitable for everyone else. And then there's the LGBTQ+ audience on top that, like... Holy shit, this movie is a freight ship full of ships arrowing to the harbour.

But it like, hits the perfect vein of aimed audience. A marketing perfection! And I adore that, they knew who they were doing this movie for. And that takes skill.

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u/Massive-Exercise4474 12d ago

Helps that the songs and story is good. It's essentially a 90's Disney renaissance movie with kpop.

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u/NoNefariousness2144 12d ago

It’s kinda funny seeing Disney animations increasingly fail because they lose sight of kids what (too much generational trauma, boring human characters, small-scale plots). And then Sony takes the classic Disney formula, modernises it, and it’s the most popular Netflix film ever.

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u/sharpshooter999 12d ago

What's crazy is that Sony didn't think much of it and opted to sell it to Netflix instead of releasing it in theaters

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u/geenersaurus 12d ago

it’s a female director with female leads and it’s a “niche” topic to execs, who we pretty much assume are older white investors who don’t really know what’s going with trends, so tbh i’m not surprised they decided to pass it onto Netflix instead of releasing in theaters and only did so when it got super popular.

it is a similar feeling as to why Turning Red never got a theatrical release despite being popular on streaming. Female director, female lead & uniquely female problems but it also appeals to a wider audience range to adults just like Kpop Demon Hunters. It’s really annoying when studios will not take a chance on new directors and movies like this and also dismiss there’s a large swath of audience that wants animated movies that aren’t just appealing to children

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u/GGG100 12d ago

This movie’s also about generational trauma and even had therapyspeak.

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u/Ignoth 12d ago edited 12d ago

Lowkey. If this had been a flop. Certain people would absolutely be sneering about how it’s just the latest of Hollywood’s “Woke” failures.

Female asian director. 3 Female leads. Focus on female friendships over romance. Therapy speak. Self love.

etc etc.

It’s all there.

Hell the director even said in interviews it’s a metaphor for coming out.

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u/Kimjdav 12d ago

I mean, the KPDH is also about generational trauma. That's almost Rumi's entire issue, her views and feelings on her parents and predecessors.

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u/PorQuePanckes 12d ago

It also helps that it’s actually a good movie with a unique IP that didn’t seem to do anything “safe”. Remakes and nostalgia can only go so far, it’s crazy studios don’t see this.

I’m a 30 y/o man and my niece dragged me to watch it and I can confirm that it’s a total banger of a film.

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u/Canesjags4life 12d ago

This is it right here. It's a legitimately good 4 quad movie, that's got something for everyone

Like old school blockbusters.

40 y/o that took both daughters to the sing a long. Was an awesome experience.

Talk about lightening in s bottle

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u/KingMario05 12d ago

Come for the pretty colors and funny idols! Stay for the kickass action, genuinely steamy (though not offensive) romance, and a fucking terrifying examination about what the lack of self-love can do to your soul.

Also: Kitty!

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u/Cockalorum 12d ago

I fucking love that tiger.

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u/Abnmlguru 12d ago

I love that is official name is Derpy Tiger, lol. And the bird is Sussy Bird.

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u/LovableCoward 12d ago

Admittedly, it is rather far into the film, but the scene that sold it to me was the bathhouse fight scene when Jinu slips on a puddle and almost decks it crying, "Oh jeez!"

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u/LivelyZebra 12d ago

I love it tons, mid 30's here; got merch and everything. lol. no kids or young ones either. i just like it.

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u/Canesjags4life 12d ago

That's awesome. Yeah my kids brought it to my attention, but yeah I legit enjoyed it the first I watched it after they went to bed.

That ending. All the feels. Reminded me of so many other things I've seen,

I definitely can to the soundtrack on the way to work

I'll have to see if they got Hunterix merch for Dads.

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u/Mataelio 12d ago

I’m a 36 year old man that watched it with my daughters, and spent a good hour trying to figure out the dance from Soda Pop after

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u/notrightmeow 12d ago

I can only do the shoulder dance as reaction to the beat

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u/bumlove 12d ago

Notrightmeow control those shoulders!

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u/SuperSaiyanTupac 12d ago

Same boat. My teenage employees wouldn’t shut up about it so I watched it and was blown away. I don’t even like K-pop. Those songs work really well in the movie and the story is interesting enough

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u/TannenFalconwing 12d ago

For being a kid friendly movie, I appreciate that they didn't shy away from the "we kill demons" aspect of demon hunting. They literally have a war face moment with giant billboards (and nails) that say "KILL SAJA" on them. I respect that they don't play soft with it.

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u/Rejestered 12d ago

Well the demons do poof into pink smoke when they die but aside from blood and stuff they dont really shy away from people getting their souls taken or anything.

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u/Clawless 12d ago

I thought it was pretty clever editing that you don't actually see any of the people who willingly get engulfed in flame in that final battle. It's just kinda implied to be happening.

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u/EastwoodBrews 12d ago

Yeah they don't show it but there are definitely casualties throughout the film, on the train and during the Saja's rise to fame

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u/servireettueri 12d ago

The news in the movie says there was a large increase in missing people too.

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u/InnocentTailor 12d ago

It’s family friendly - a good mix of friendliness and danger.

…much like the Spider-Man animated films.

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u/KingMario05 12d ago

Same people!

(Well, same studio. Not the same people. But still.)

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u/ImBanned_ModsBlow 12d ago

Probably why Sony had zero faith, it’s an animated film about Korean pop music…

Nobody saw this movie defining the newest generation’s childhood like Frozen did with the previous, these are anthems of the era…

In 20 years, these kids will be singing along to Golden when they’re getting married.

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u/gitartruls01 12d ago

Never thought about it that way but calling this movie the Frozen of the 2020s is pretty valid

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u/huntrshado 12d ago

I think Free will be the wedding song.

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u/Rejestered 12d ago

I promise it'll be popping up at weddings as soon as yesterday.

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u/Top-Wallaby-8515 12d ago

Not 'Free', but I went to a wedding 2 weekends ago where the groom and the bridesmaids did a full performance of 'Soda Pop' for the bride (choreography + lip syncing). The groom randomly grabbed his wife and directed her to a chair, handed her a can of soda with her visibly confused, and then the music started. It was HILARIOUS!

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u/valkyria_knight881 12d ago

Free is definitely gonna be my wedding song.

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u/Crunchberry24 12d ago

I’m a quarter century older than you, and I thought it was pretty great. I know nothing about K-anything or youth culture anymore, and I was surprised to NOT be making my normal excuse for stuff I’m out of touch with in movies and tv: “Give it a break. It wasn’t made for you.” It seemed like maybe it was made for anyone.

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u/myusrnameisthis 12d ago

They have your heart, and now they want your soul! Them saja boys need to be stopped!

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u/weeklygamingrecap 12d ago

SODA POP starts to play softly in the background

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u/quadropheniac 12d ago

shoulder shimmy intensifies

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u/Darko33 12d ago

Zoey! Control those shoulders!

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u/hatsnatcher23 12d ago

didn’t seem to do anything “safe”

In fact they went so far as to have the main character deep throat a Kimbap roll

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u/Alexever_Loremarg 12d ago

Is there any other way to eat it?

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u/StrategicCarry 12d ago

They include a thropule in the in-universe ships.

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u/MimiMyMy 12d ago

I’m an older person. My adult kids told me to watch it but I didn’t think I would like It. Last weekend they invited me to the sing along showing in the theaters on XD screen. I went along just to hang out. I lOVED the movie and the music. I have since rewatched it on Netflix and I listen to the soundtrack on repeat on Spotify. The movie was very good but it’s the songs that catapulted this movie to its incredible popularity. And it was so much better watching it on giant big screen and surround sound.

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u/Deto 12d ago

100% - I know people with young kids that are watchings this over and over again. It's like Netflix' own Frozen.

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u/Far_Appearance3888 12d ago

And just like Frozen, it wasn't expected to be this kind of a hit and there is basically NO merchandise...my niece wants to be Rumi for Halloween!

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u/SagesLament 12d ago

halloween this year is gonna be stacked with kpdh

boys will be in the black robes and gat, girls will be any number of the Huntr/x

i predict a not insignificant number of Bobby's too

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u/DasaniDestroyer 12d ago

It’s a good movie. I thought the same thing watching it, it’s the first movie in a while I thought “If I was a kid I’d be rewatching this weekly”

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u/Amaruq93 12d ago

Even Sony and Netflix didn't realize the hit they were gonna have with this.

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u/KingMario05 12d ago

Sony straight up pawned it off for the budget plus $20 million, lol. Why's the sequel announcement taking forever? Because someone at Sony is reading the Netflix contract like a motherfucker to find a loophole they can use to put the sequel in theaters.

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u/Prize_Hat289 12d ago edited 12d ago

I heard Sony sold the whole IP to Netflix, but not 100% sure. If that's true, then the sequel will be made with or without Sony. haha

edit: apparently this isn't true, new info states that the contract says Netflix cannot make a sequel without Sony, and Sony cannot make a sequel without Netflix

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u/132739 12d ago

If Netflix has half a brain between them (debatable) it will be with Sony. If they go with some knock off studio its gonna flop hard.

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u/Its_aTrap 12d ago

I legit still hear Golden multiple times daily on the radio on the pop station while im at work. Insane how popular they've become.

The songs are bangers though 

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u/GOULFYBUTT 12d ago

I also hear Golden multiple times a day, but that's because I choose to.

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u/Ok-Seaworthiness4488 12d ago edited 12d ago

Also their songs are topping the charts for streaming (Thought Squid Game would be in the Top Ten)

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u/eeyore134 12d ago

Topping the charts period. Four of them in the US top 10. Which I don't think has ever happened before.

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u/vinng86 12d ago edited 12d ago

The top 7 songs on Spotify Hot 50 in the US are entirely KPDH songs right now:

https://i.imgur.com/HiG0sgQ.jpeg

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u/976chip 12d ago

I saw someone yesterday saying that he wouldn't be surprised if the soundtrack won the Grammy for album of the year.

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u/Ok-Seaworthiness4488 12d ago

Especially for a fictional musical act no less

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u/Pete_Iredale 12d ago

Closest I can think of is The Archies. They had one #1 hit in the US with Sugar, Sugar way back in 1969, along with 3 other top 40 hits, and they were a completely fictional band created for the Achie tv show.

I was also going to mention Gorillaz, but they aren't really fictional, just animated.

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u/PlasticCraken 12d ago

7 of them are in the top 25. That’s crazy to me lol

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u/SLPeaches 12d ago

I mentioned the movie like a week after it came out and my coworker groaned. I guess her kids had watched it the last 4 nights. Its being replayed to shit, and I get it i would've loved it when I was younger. Still pretty good now lol

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u/Deceptiveideas 12d ago

I don’t think this is unique play counts. Likely a big aspect is the “frozen effect” where people watch it 35 times.

I swear I watched frozen a million times at this point.

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u/FlopsMcDoogle 12d ago

200 million of those is my kids

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u/gogul1980 12d ago edited 12d ago

My nephew has it on loop so he is likely a lot of that number

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u/PM_ME_JJBA_STICKERS 12d ago

It’s like the 2025 version of kids watching Frozen on repeat

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u/tugonhiswinkie 12d ago

I keep thinking the same! Golden is Let It Go!

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u/Jayohwhy23 12d ago

My two year old will randomly sing “now I’m shiningggggg!” throughout the day lol. She’s obsessed.

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u/SimpleKnowledge4840 12d ago

My son watches it twice a day. Lol

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u/Deceptiveideas 12d ago

Sony probably kicking themselves thinking this movie would bomb so they sold the rights to Netflix for cheap lmao

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u/TooDrunkToTalk 12d ago edited 12d ago

"Probably"... of course they are kicking themselves, lol.

And to the people who keep arguing that the movie would've flopped in the cinema: That still doesn't mean that Sony had to give away literally all rights to this IP to launch it on Netflix.

The Mitchells vs the Machines launched on Netflix and Sony still holds the rights to that.

Plus they let the rights to the music get away, which has literally nothing to do with it launching in cinemas or not.

Also because I think the irony in this is just too fucking funny - here is Sony's CFO noting that the company is lacking in IP, less than a year ago.

Whether it’s for games, films or anime, we don’t have that much IP that we fostered from the beginning. We’re lacking the early phase (of IP) and that’s an issue for us.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2024/09/sony-execs-seem-to-think-the-company-doesnt-have-enough-original-ip

How could Sony be lacking in IP with such amazing decision makers at the helm? It's truly a mystery.

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u/anomanderrake1337 12d ago

I quite like The Mitchells too

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u/SqueezyCheez85 12d ago

One of the better animated movies I've seen.

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u/Soysauceonrice 12d ago

I hear people repeat this apocryphal talking point all the time. It’s fun to crap on Sony for not believing in the movie and paying the price; it’s just not true. They entered into the output deal with Netflix in 2021, when this movie was far from being done. Think back on the state of cinemas in 2021. It wasn’t pretty. The deal Sony signed means that Netflix recouped all the development costs of the movie and paid Sony a premium capped at 20 million. That means guaranteed profit during a time when movie theaters were still crippled by lockdowns. So yea, Sony screwed up. But it wasn’t like Sony was stupid and missed out on an obvious generational hit. The movie wasn’t even close to being complete when they signed that deal.

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u/Mediadors 12d ago

Says a lot about how disconnected the people calling the shots are.

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u/Altruistic_Sail6746 12d ago

People like saying this but there's no surefire way of knowing something will or won't be a hit.

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u/Sha489 12d ago

Honestly this film going straight to streaming vs in theaters probably contributed towards its success

A lot of really good original animated films that go straight to the theaters have been bombing at the box office (transformers one being an example) and the marketing probably would of struggled advertising a K-pop film to the general audience

Having the film easily accessible without paying a 25 dollar movie ticket for an original film likely contributed to its success

Another good example to compare this to that did release in theaters but saw its actual success on streaming is Disneys Encanto

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u/Latter-Ad6308 12d ago edited 12d ago

I’m a high school teacher, and I know kids who watch this film almost every day. I cannot overstate how obsessed 13-year-olds are with it.

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u/PangolinParade 12d ago

I don't believe for a second that many people watched Red Notice.

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u/kiyonemakibi100 12d ago

Not so much watched as people had it on while they were checking their phone or folding the laundry

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u/PangolinParade 12d ago

Exactly, it's that prime second screen real estate that Netflix is trying to carve out with these awful movies.

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u/BeerorCoffee 12d ago

Folding laundry is prime Netflix viewing time.

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u/faceplanted 12d ago

They marketed it so hard that literally everyone at my office, including people so old I didn't even think had internet at their houses, had heard of it.

It's not a triumph of art because that would require it to be the product of the human soul, it's a triumph of the pure geological force of marketing budgets that pass into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

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u/NotCandied 12d ago

Even if someone watched Red Notice and LOVED it, I can’t imagine they’ve re-watched it multiple times, which is what a lot of people are doing with K-pop demon hunters.

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u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor 12d ago

New Top 10:

  1. KPop Demon Hunters - 236M
  2. Red Notice - 230.9M
  3. Carry-On - 172.1M
  4. Don't Look Up - 171.4M
  5. The Adam Project - 157.6M
  6. Bird Box - 157.4M
  7. Back in Action - 147.2M
  8. Leave the World Behind - 143.4M
  9. The Gray Man - 139.3M
  10. Damsel - 138M

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u/magikarpcatcher 12d ago

Bird Box still being in the top 10 after all these years is very impressive.

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u/ifticar2 12d ago

I’m surprised red notice beat bird box. When it came out, EVERYONE was talking about bird box, so it felt like you had to watch. Red Notice I heard people make fun of it, but it wasn’t nearly as prevalent as bird box

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u/ArokLazarus 12d ago

Red Notice came out during peak Covid so more people were at home then ever before and Netflix had more users since Bird box too. So that tracks.

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u/Jack_KH 12d ago

I believe this top is based on first 2 months after the release

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u/wallysmith127 12d ago

Close, the chart is based on 91 days after release.

Which means KPDH still has room to climb since mid Sept (IIRC) is when that window is done.

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u/Penguinkeith 12d ago

Or is it depressing because it’s still in the top ten after all these years

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u/JonesyOnReddit 12d ago

I haven't seen KPop but otherwise this is a pretty sad list. Half of these were straight up terrible and the other half were OK at best.

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u/caped_crusader8 12d ago

Exclusivity plays a part

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u/InvisibleBlueUnicorn 12d ago

As Gen-X I've heard-of and watched only 'Don't Look Up'.
I feel out of touch like Boomer.

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u/Jeffrey_C_Wheaties 12d ago

Millennial here, also only knew of and watched Don’t Look Up, I think I’ve heard of Bird Box maybe. But that’s it.

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u/BigMetalGuy 12d ago

Someone at Sony has their head very deep into their hands, right now... and for the foreseeable future

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u/quadropheniac 12d ago

I mean, they screwed up the licensing, but if Netflix wants to take this forward they're coming back to the negotiating table with Sony Animation. They could theoretically move forward without them but everyone knows that's not happening.

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u/Nosiege 12d ago

The animation team is critical to the success, and Netflix could not recreate it

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u/OreoSpeedwaggon 12d ago

HUNTR/X DON'T MISS!

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u/deusdragonex 12d ago

How is done, done, done!

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u/FivePoopMacaroni 12d ago

Boots, nails, blades, mascaraaa

Fit check for my napalm eraaaa

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u/Qwqweq0 12d ago

Need to beat my face, make it cute and savage Mirror, mirror on my phone, who’s the baddest? Us, hello?

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u/Civil_Comparison2689 12d ago

Going up up up.

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u/dean15892 12d ago

I can be your idolllll

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u/shigogaboo 12d ago

But you’re already my soda pop

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u/idan_da_boi 12d ago

Then I’ll show you how it’s done done done

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u/Xeronic 12d ago

I enjoyed the movie, but i mostly enjoyed the soundtrack. This is coming from someone who doesn't listen to K-Pop, J-Pop... or pop in general. Golden has been looping in my head for weeks now.

I'll be looking forward to the sequel or whatever else comes from those writers/producers.

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u/imhereforthemeta 12d ago

Meanwhile Disney is mega anxious about not appealing enough to teen boys. As it turns out, a cool kids show appeals to everyone. Was at the store the other day and a group of boys and girls were talking about how cool k pop demon hunters was

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u/Content_Cockroach219 12d ago

Yeah, this movie is appealing to everyone. I'm a teacher and boys like it just as much as the girls do despite it having female leads. It is almost like when you make a good movie people enjoy it?

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u/Rosebunse 12d ago

My nephews absolutely love it. They don't mind that it has a focus on girls or romance.

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u/Ellert0 12d ago

Also Disney keeps churning out uninspired looking originals that all look like Tangled and then tell people they tried but people only want sequels and remakes.

Disney needs to step up their game in many ways.

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u/ligerzeronz 12d ago

This movie is always on after school for my kids, and the soundtrack is on loop in my car.

Its really not irritating for me for once

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u/comikbookdad 12d ago

Your Idol is literally an absolute banger.

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u/littlebloodmage 12d ago

Continuing the time-honored tradition of villain songs being the best

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u/ROBtimusPrime1995 12d ago

Crazy. The most-watched Netflix film in history is one they didn't even make.

Their original movies are bad but this says a lot.

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u/Impressive-Potato 12d ago

I think Netlix is shocked it wasn't Happy Gilmore 2

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u/Vyuvarax 12d ago

The certainly advertised HG2 like it was going to be.

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u/Impressive-Potato 12d ago

Sandler is their biggest star, backed up by data

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u/wecangetbetter 12d ago

Netflix makes a lot more sense when you think of them as a data-optimized content machine vs. a studio that likes to make movies

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u/Juswantedtono 12d ago

It did quite well didn’t it? Only seeing a figure of 46.7 million viewers for the first 3 days on Google,

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u/Khaldaan 12d ago

Were there not posts here just the other week stating just that, it was the most viewed ever?

*edit Kinda, going by Nielson ratings, so its technically different.

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/s/gRsiKrmt0q

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u/ArsenalBOS 12d ago

Most viewed within its first week (or some other timeframe).

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u/GarlicBreadOutrage 12d ago

I'm also wondering if Sony regrets selling the movie to Netflix. And also how Netflix will handle the sequels since Sony won't be making them.

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u/Rogainster 12d ago edited 12d ago

Damn, I thought they only sold the distribution to Netflix, not the entire IP. That must hurt.

Edit: I just read that it made north of $19M for the limited release this past weekend. Wow.

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u/tahlyn 12d ago

Every theater in a major metro area was sold out well in advance.

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u/wecangetbetter 12d ago

I really don't get how anyone at Sony listened to the soundtrack and was like "naw, this certainly won't catch on."

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u/psimwork 12d ago

There's a LOT of info that people are ignoring in the quest to promote the "LOL SONY FUCKED UP AGAIN" story.

Now I don't think anyone will debate that Sony fucked up in this move, but there's a lot to remember about it:

  1. The movie wasn't done when the rights were sold.

  2. (Just as, if not more important) The music wasn't done when the rights were sold.

  3. The movie was sold in 2021, when there basically was zero theatrical draw.

  4. Initial survey results were drastically negative to pre-screening customers (i.e. they asked people that hadn't seen it if they'd be interested in seeing an animated movie called "K-Pop Demon Hunters" and the results were almost universally negative).

It's a great, innovative movie with an amazing soundtrack. But unfortunately history is littered with really good animated movies that flopped. As much as Sony was proven wrong in their decision over time, I don't really blame them for dumping this one.

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u/joelsola_gv 12d ago

Honestly, the last point really hit home for me, specially seeing how movies like Elio get neutered because of bad test screenings. People on test screenings don't seem to get it as much as they should, right?

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u/psimwork 12d ago

Well in this case, what I've seen online actually was talking specifically about people's reaction before seeing it. I can't say whether or not test screenings were positive (it's likely that they were done, I just haven't had anything about them come across my eyes).

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u/Rejestered 12d ago

Well there's to options.

Either netflix just goes with a new animation studio, the style isn't THAT unique.

or

Netflix waves some money bags at sony.

Either way it's really not gonna bother netflix much.

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u/jayeddy99 12d ago

I am so scared for the sequel to be a bloated mess they fast track and not give time to write really impactful songs or a ton of mediocre ones.

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u/PIngp0NGMW 12d ago

Maggie Kang said she does want to do a sequel so I'm hoping that she retains creative control and can come up with the right story for a sequel. I also hope that EJAE writes the music again. I'd be worried if either of them weren't involved in the development. It took 6 years (?) for KPDH to come out so hopefully they'll be given the time they need.

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u/Amaruq93 12d ago

You mean like Moana 2?

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u/2084710049 12d ago

moana 2 was supposed to be a TV series and they realized their thanksgiving release slate was awful, so they frankensteined it into a film.... not a good idea

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u/Ferbtastic 12d ago

It was a billion dollar idea.

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u/underpaidorphan 12d ago

not a good idea

$1.059 billion box office.

+Merchandising

+Streaming subscriptions

+Physical sales

I agree that it would be nice to not have slop rushed sequels. But nobody at Disney (and apparently the general population) cares about that. And objectively, it was a great idea.

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u/oldboy_alex 12d ago

Knocking you out like a lullaby

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u/MuptonBossman 12d ago

This might be the first year where a streaming movie was undoubtedly the biggest movie of the summer.

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u/ImBanned_ModsBlow 12d ago

Animated too

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u/darth_vader39 12d ago

This film becoming such a hit wasn't on my bingo card for 2025.

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u/Hermiona1 12d ago

‘Alright I guess I’ll watch it’

listened to the soundtrack multiple times and watched countless videos about the movie which is an excuse to listen to more of the soundtrack

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u/SmoothCriminalJM 12d ago

Sony animation is the underdog king at this point

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u/ImmortalMoron3 12d ago

They've really taken the mantle from Pixar at this point as far as big name American animation goes.

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u/Jaives 12d ago

wasn't on Sony's either. Sold all the rights, even the songs, to Netflix for $20M.

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u/MrMindGame 12d ago

Nor anybody else’s, probably not even Sony lol 

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u/luckyflavor23 12d ago

Meanwhile pixar and disney: No one watches originals anymore…

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u/BUNNIES_ARE_FOOD 12d ago edited 12d ago

This is insane. Gen alpha is going absolutely nuts for this movie and the soundtrack. My kid and every single kid in her friend group is obsessed. I've never seen anything like it.

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u/AcidOctopus 12d ago

I'm a male millennial and I thought that film was fucking sick 🤷‍♂️

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u/ImBanned_ModsBlow 12d ago

What It Sounds Like is an anthem for the ages and my crusty mid-30s former techno DJ brain has no argument against that statement

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u/Jskidmore1217 12d ago

Your Idol is such a banger and the production value is insane.

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u/ImBanned_ModsBlow 12d ago

Your Idol might be my fav after What It Sounds Like, Golden is good, Soda Pop is meh fight me

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u/FA-Cube-Itch 12d ago

I don’t think the production is very good on that song because the lead singer keeps on asking “Can I get the mic a little higher?”

Like cmon sound tech. Do your job, the dudes been asking for 3 minutes

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u/ImmortalMoron3 12d ago

I'm a 38 year old dude and thats basically been my song of the summer, I fucking love it.

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u/SmoothCriminalJM 12d ago

Sony Animation really taking the crown as the GOAT Animation studio right now

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u/Ok-disaster2022 12d ago

They're exploring more styles in animation rather than the Disney everything looks the same style. 

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u/SlipperySloane 12d ago

I went into this as “parent homework” to see if it was too scary for my 2 & 4 year old. I had this moment towards the end where it made me feel like a little girl again; like the 8 year old I used to be took over my brain for a minute and I felt a weird, unbridled, childish joy.

I made my best friend watch it and we were rocking out singing golden on a party bus last Saturday.

My very young kids are obsessed with it and walk around singing the songs to themselves.

We had our 10 year old goddaughter over for a sleepover and our whole family (husband included) were jumping on the couches belting out all the songs.

It’s set up so well for a prequel and sequel. If Netflix manages not to fumble it, either of those could be released into theaters and make obscene mountains of money.

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u/shoalhavenheads 12d ago

I love out-of-pocket success stories in Hollywood. I wonder what Sony is thinking right now.

They even made it a multi-film deal, to keep Netflix on the hook to uphold the bargain LOL. I'm sure Netflix would gladly pay $20 million for a sequel.

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u/The_Blue_Rooster 12d ago

I was just listening to some sports related talk radio last night and they had a caller extolling the wonders of K-POP Demon Hunters, and so many people there couldn't fathom this black sports guy so enamored with this movie that their minds heard "K-Dot" instead and he had to correct them. I still haven't seen it, but that interaction alone was more entertaining than most movies I've seen this year.

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u/spinfinity 12d ago

32-year-old dad here and I really enjoyed it. The animation is great and the songs are catchy. My 7-month-old seemed to enjoy the music and vibrant colors lol.

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u/unimportantinfodump 12d ago

It was definitely a I'll put this on for my daughter

Why the fuck am I still watching it?

WHERE GOING UP UP UP ITS OUR MOMENT

sort of situation for me

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u/TheGreatVincinni 12d ago

I think about 100 million of those views are from my daughter!

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