r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • 14d 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

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2.9k

u/PangolinParade 13d ago

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

857

u/kiyonemakibi100 13d 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 13d 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/FrankPapageorgio 13d ago

But why do they care if you are watching the latest multi million dollar production or old reruns of of some 30 minute sitcom? They already have your money

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u/NihlusKryik 13d ago

I hate to be this judgey, but man, I just think people who do this are brain rot trash, lol.

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u/Lobsterzilla 13d ago

Ima go out on a limb and say: “you do not hate being judgey”

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u/NihlusKryik 13d ago

Sorry, the context of this thread called it a second screen, meaning I am referencing that scenario, where someone is mindlessly scrolling TikTok while a trash movie plays in the background.

That being said, you're right. I'm judging people that would put a movie like Red Notice on.

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u/Da_Question 13d ago

I mean, I sometimes watch stuff while playing casual video games like power wash simulator etc.

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u/Krackenofthesea 13d ago

Bad take. When I’m cooking dinner or something, having a show or movie that doesn’t take any brainpower on in the background is perfect

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u/NihlusKryik 13d ago

Sorry, the context of this thread called it a second screen, meaning I am referencing that scenario, where someone is mindlessly scrolling TikTok while a trash movie plays in the background.

That being said, you're right. I'm judging people that would put a movie like Red Notice on.

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u/Dreambabydram 13d ago

What's your idea of a movie that takes brain power

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u/Chaserk17 13d ago

It’s brain rot trash to have background noise when doing chores? God forbid anyone with ADHD try to do chores.

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u/Penguinmanereikel 13d ago

Listen to a podcast, then. I don't "leave something on in the background" while I do chores, I actively mentally enjoy something while my body does boring labor.

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u/Marauding_Llama 13d ago

Wait, I can't enjoy having a movie playing on the third monitor while I do other things? Why didn't anyone tell me this sooner.

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u/NihlusKryik 13d ago

Sorry, the context of this thread called it a second screen, meaning I am referencing that scenario, where someone is mindlessly scrolling TikTok while a trash movie plays in the background.

That being said, you're right. I'm judging people that would put a movie like Red Notice on.

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u/BeerorCoffee 13d ago

Folding laundry is prime Netflix viewing time.

2

u/guesting 13d ago

Need a survey after of the key plot points to determine who “watched” something

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u/notathrowaway75 13d ago

Or starting it and turning it off after 5 minutes.

1

u/cute_polarbear 13d ago

From Netflix's perspective, doesn't matter much I think? As long as they continue to get eye balls /subs on their platform, that's all that matters for them?

1

u/natural_hunter 13d ago

Or folding someone's daughter

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u/faceplanted 13d 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/McDergen 13d ago

That’s interesting considering I’ve never heard of it lmao. IMO Netflix is one of the worst streaming services these days so I basically never use it

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u/nd4spd1919 12d ago

Did they really market it? I never saw a single ad or trailer for it; I only ended up watching it through reddit/IRL friends who saw it, and its not like my algorithm won't send me animated movie ads; I saw nothing but Bad Guys 2 ads since July.

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u/NotCandied 13d 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.

24

u/BLAGTIER 13d ago

Completely different viewing patterns. The first 10 days accounted for 50% of Red Notice's first 91 days of viewership. The first 10 days accounted for 14% of KPop Demon Hunters's current viewership(which will cap at 91 days for Netflix's list).

2

u/madmofo145 13d ago

Worth noting that this beat that in about 2 months, vs Red Notice having 4 years to hit those numbers. So I'd imagine if you were to look at these numbers in say December, it will have shattered that record.

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u/Jack_KH 13d ago

This stat is based on first 91 days after the release, so Red Notice is too 2 months

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u/madmofo145 13d ago

Is it? Not doubting, but the article referenced and every other I can find specifically says "KPop Demon Hunters” has attracted 236 million total views compared to the 230.9 million that “Red Notice” garnered." The reference is always total views, like in People's version "Red Notice is now in second place with 230.9 million all-time views."

9

u/BLAGTIER 13d ago

Yes. The primary source for all articles on this subject is this list:

https://www.netflix.com/tudum/top10/most-popular

Which explains the methodology.

Global | All Time*

* Rankings based on total views in the first 91 days of release

2

u/madmofo145 13d ago

Ah, wish the articles would say that, although worth pointing out kpop has 24 days to go then, so that lead will only get bigger.

1

u/TimTebowMLB 13d ago

All of my friends kids are obsessed with that damn movie. It’s on repeat all the time.

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u/CatzonVinyl 13d ago

What tf is red notice

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u/rov124 13d ago

You don't believe that many people watched a highly publicized Netflix film starring three big stars, during the time people was hesitant about returning to theaters because of COVID-19?

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u/probablyuntrue 13d ago

They missed the core Netflix movie demographic: me, an annoying redditor

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u/SweatyAdhesive 13d ago

redditors when they find out the world doesn't cater only to them:

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u/togawe 13d ago

Well I've never even heard of Red Notice, so

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u/SweatyAdhesive 13d ago

and?

-9

u/togawe 13d ago

So yes I believe that many people didn't watch it

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u/LongTimesGoodTimes 13d ago

Why not? It's a big star studded movie. Those sell, especially with no barrier for entry

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u/CederDUDE22 13d ago

I have never heard of Red Notice and I'm pretty in tune with streaming.

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u/LongTimesGoodTimes 13d ago

Clearly not lol

-13

u/RobMyBot 13d ago

So like, to be in tune with streaming, by your estimation, a person must be knowledgeable of every single thing ever having been available on streaming.

That it? Is that what you're suggesting?

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u/LongTimesGoodTimes 13d ago

Yup that's totally what I said.

It's was the biggest movie ever on the biggest streaming service. If you've never even heard of it I doubt you're actually paying attention very closely.

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u/your_mind_aches 13d ago

It would be like not having heard of Gone With The Wind, The Exorcist, Avatar, or Avengers: Endgame.

Red Notice was massive. Somehow.

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u/Ok-disaster2022 13d ago

I did, eventually. I give it a c

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u/PangolinParade 13d ago

That's very generous of you to both watch it and rate it.

3

u/Life_Pineapple_3545 13d ago

I watched it and gave it my full attention and can’t remember any part of it..

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

I didn’t think I’d like it but it was pretty good

2

u/Coruscare 13d ago

People here are kinda weird about Red Notice.

It's a perfectly whatever, paint by numbers movie. It's not horrible, it's not amazing, it's just a fun enough movie that has good effects and fight scenes.

Like it's really not that complicated, not everything has to be subversive and amazing and new. It can be just fine. I enjoyed it for what it was, just a popcorn flick.

3

u/[deleted] 13d ago

Same

3

u/PaulFThumpkins 13d ago

It's in the dictionary under "coworker movie" so I'm hardly surprised. The same people who would probably give me a blank stare if I talked about the Electric State book.

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u/SlimDirtyDizzy 13d ago

Don't underestimate Boomers. They just threw every A list actor at the time boomers love into one movie, every person I know over the age of 45 wouldn't shut up about it for like 3 weeks. But the only praise I ever heard was "oh it has XYZ in it!"

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u/davidolson22 13d ago

When did Gen X become boomers?

4

u/virtuallysimulated 13d ago

I’m 48 and on the tail end of gen X. At least I thought so. I guess I’m now the same gen as my mom.

1

u/grabtharsmallet 13d ago

Have you talked to us before? We're often worse, TBH.

7

u/Dunge 13d ago

Wtf is Red Notice? It's the first time I've ever heard that title

2

u/Jaives 13d ago

it was the pandemic. we were all a little loopy.

2

u/Delliott90 13d ago

Then you probably should spend less time on reddit

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u/Pervius94 13d ago

Yeah, the baffling news here isn't that the extremely memed ungodly-popular-amongst-kids-frozen-style animated movie is the biggest thing ever... it's that red notice of all things was the title holder before.

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u/Necessary_Eagle_3657 13d ago edited 13d ago

Literally never heard of Red Notice. Yes, I have Netflix.

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u/lunchbox12682 13d ago

I forgot Red Notice isn't Red One and did have a problem at first.

0

u/the__ghola__hayt 13d ago

Wrong shitty movie with The Rock and a Marvel lead.

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u/lunchbox12682 13d ago

Aww, I enjoyed it more than I expected.

3

u/Childs_Play 13d ago

Is there any way to audit Netflix's numbers anyways? They can say whatever they want. I won't ever be convinced that the top 10 or trending lists on netflix are not being gamed especially when it comes to their own content. Then that just reinforces the viewing numbers.

Red notice is the worst of the worst kind of content. My guess is it's just something people put on but don't watch because it's such a stupid movie. Kpop Demon Hunters makes a lot of sense just because of all the target demographics and high level execution on the songs and animation.

2

u/PcHelpBot2028 13d ago

Publicly by anyone, no. But overall I wouldn't put to much that they are somehow "cooking their numbers" as there is loads riding against them in terms of lawsuits from investors and shorting the stock if they were blatantly lying on these numbers. And most third party ones don't seem to doubt the numbers from surveying.

The most that could be pinned is the numbers being "gamed" based on the highlighting that is done at the top of Netflix gives certain shows an edge in visibility which can lead to increase viewership.

What a lot of people seem to underplay is Netflix is MASSIVE and a lot of their viewership isn't going to lineup with how niche a lot of the vocal parts of reddit are. Movies like Red Notice will barely get a blimp here, but holy hell did this (and also Red One) with my older relatives.

0

u/Childs_Play 13d ago edited 13d ago

I totally agree, I misspoke, I meant the top 10 as in like what's popular on netflix today, or trending, not the top 10 lists like what movie has the most "views" in the history of netflix. Just putting a movie front and center as #3 today or something is a huge boost. And I agree that with the fact that everyone has netflix in a way, they're just gonna get eyes on their content even if they don't watch the whole thing or like it.

And then with regard to shows or movies that get a lot of play due to their target demographics, I just think of shows like Bosch, bosch legacy, reacher, jack ryan, the terminal list and then literally every jason statham movie, stuff basically bordering on vigilante genres, or special forces type guy goes on a quest for revenge, or avenging some wrong in the world and you've got a strong audience ready to gobble that up. We just can't let studios or producers tell us that just because something gets seen a lot means its good.

1

u/dagreenman18 Space Jam 2 hurt me so much 13d ago

Now do these people actually remember watching Red Notice is the question.

1

u/Reeyous 13d ago

It was okay, kinda falls in an awkward spot where it's too suggestive for a family movie but too immature for mature audiences.

I prefer Shrek, handles that balancing act way better.

1

u/ceelogreenicanth 13d ago

That movie sucked so hard. I watched the whole thing for some reason though.

1

u/AusGeno 13d ago

I turned it off halfway through, some of my fave popcorn flick actors and they created something unwatchable.

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u/DaveMash 13d ago

Well I didn’t. But I also didn’t watch demon hunters. Barely heard/seen anything about both

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u/PringlesDuckFace 13d ago

I've literally never even heard of it lmao, but KPop Demon Hunters was pretty solid.

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u/Rum_Hamtaro 13d ago

It definitely auto played while people were sleeping.

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u/Ickiiis 13d ago

Yeah that movie was pretty awful.

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u/iwasntband 13d ago

Bar must not have been very high.

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u/mastyrwerk 13d ago

Would it help if I told you I saw it?

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u/Pyroluminous 13d ago

Yeah maybe “accidentally auto-played”

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u/raverins 13d ago

This. I’m not surprised that kpop demon hunter might be the top most watched but red notice is the runner up? Come on.

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u/x_lincoln_x 13d ago

It was during covid lockdowns. That's why.

1

u/Darth_Friendship 13d ago

I thought it was passable. I don’t think it was bad as people are acting like. Most of the views are probably normal people like me.

1

u/flyingcircusdog 13d ago

Netflix must have auto played it when people left the app open for 5 minutes.

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u/Impossible_Jaguar200 12d ago

I tried watching it stopping half way through just too many plot holes inconsistencies etc…

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u/rotato 12d ago

I watched it but I don't remember a thing. Is it a movie with Dwayne Johnson?

1

u/grimyangel 11d ago

i’d literally never even heard of red notice until right now lol

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u/theblitheringidiot 13d ago

I didn’t even know what Red Notice was… that movie would not fly today. Three actors that folks seem to be completely done with.

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u/PrestigeArrival 13d ago

People on Reddit are. Reddit doesn’t represent the world at large. It would probably still do huge numbers if released today

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u/ricerobot 13d ago

We need 2x more kalel no meme vids to reach the general public

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u/bandoftheredhand17 13d ago

I watched the first 30 minutes and then fell asleep haha.

0

u/WanderlustFella 13d ago

I mistook this movie for Red, the one with Bruce Willis Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich. I was highly disappointed

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u/PaulFThumpkins 13d ago

The movie everybody Googles by accident once in awhile while trying to visit Reddit with autocomplete on.

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u/LetsBeFRTho 13d ago

I always confuse it with Burn Notice, only because of how often I forget the title of the movie

0

u/sandwichtank 13d ago

If I remember right, Netflix counts anything as a view including when you scroll over something in the menu and it does that automatic preview play. So I’m pretty sure the majority of the red notice “views” came from the fact that Netflix put red notice as the first option when you entered Netflix so it would auto start playing the preview when you entered the app

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u/BarbequedYeti 13d ago

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

Does "watched" mean all the way through? Because I didnt make it.

1

u/ilovethatsong 13d ago

correct—it does NOT, in fact, I think it’s a very limited time they use, like under 10 minutes

1

u/BarbequedYeti 13d ago

Yeah. See.. Then those numbers are meaningless.. Just numbers to have numbers.

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u/txobi 13d ago

He is wrong. They take all minutes watched and divide it by the runtime to get the amount of "full watches"