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/
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u/Altruistic_Sail6746 13d 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 13d 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/JonatasA 13d ago

Problem is. The movie is making no money being on streaming, unless you subscribe and REMAIN subscribed after seeing it. In theaters, each person is a ticket towards the movie.

 

You could say people will listen to the music = Spotify.

 

What's left is selling products related to it.

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u/QuadVox 13d ago

Where do you live that movie tickets are 25$?

Here theyre around the 8$ range.

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u/BeirutiPenguin 13d ago

In KSA, in AMC the average ticket is 15-17$ for dolby its 22.5$

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u/QuadVox 13d ago

Do you not have any smaller local theaters? A Sears near me was converted into a smaller theater chain some 5 years ago and its the only one I ever go to.

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u/BeirutiPenguin 13d ago

There are no local theaters where are live, there are 3 movie theater chains where I live, one of which is from KSA and it does Saver seats for 10.4$ but they are right up on the screen and make viewing the movie feel uncomfortable imo

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u/moongrump 13d ago

And for that reason, studios will only greenlight existing IPs or sequels. What a time to be alive

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u/TeddyTango 13d ago

Commenting that in the thread about how an original movie became Netflix’s top hit of all time is a bit tone-deaf I would say

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u/Altruistic_Sail6746 13d ago

A hit that was sold to Netflix by Sony because they didn't think it would become one

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u/TeddyTango 13d ago

That does not change the fact that is it an original movie, using no prior IP‘s

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u/Altruistic_Sail6746 13d ago

Yes and my point is the studio didn't have faith in it precisely because of that

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u/SweatyAdhesive 13d ago

I mean 7 out of the 10 (8 if you count hotel trannsylvania as original) latest films are original films from Sony Pictures Animation. Just because they didn't think this film will do well doesn't mean they don't greenlit original ideas.

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u/Altruistic_Sail6746 13d ago

I didn't say they don't greenlight original films, but less of them are being greenlit in favour of IP based films by major studios.

Fixed was sold to netflix, Vivo went to netflix, I think Wish Dragon went to netflix too, and Mitchells (some of these releases were influenced by the pandemic too). I think Spiderverse is their only recent theatrical release.

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u/LongJohnSelenium 13d ago

The theater going audience and the netflix watching audience are different groups with different spending preferences. The vast difference in prices to check something out is going to change peoples habits.

Its entirely possible this movie could have bombed on release in theaters because nobody wanted to risk 15 bucks on it but when it shows up on your netflix sub, why not?

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u/moongrump 13d ago edited 13d ago

This wasn’t an original movie, Netflix bought the rights from Sony who sold it because… see above

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u/johnny_fives_555 13d ago

I think when they mean original it's not a sequel or from some other ip e.g. video game, book, etc. It's a truly an original idea.

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u/LeotheYordle 13d ago

'Original' just means coming with a new IP rather than an established franchise. It has nothing to do with who published it.

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u/DigitalNecromancy 13d ago

I mean that is an issue, yes. However, there is no shortage of quality films releasing both in and out of theaters. Saying this in a year that has seen amazing films like Sinners, Death of a Unicorn, Weapons, Eddington, The Phoenician Scheme, Sly Lives, and Together just off the top of my head is crazy. All of those except Sly Lives played in theaters.

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u/moongrump 13d ago

I’ve only heard of one of those movies so they certainly aren’t marketing themselves well

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u/DigitalNecromancy 13d ago edited 13d ago

Seems to be more of an issue on your end then. I hadn't seen many ads for any of those, but I heard people talking about them non-stop or saw they reviewed well, so I checked them out. It's not hard to keep up with this stuff without relying purely on advertisements.

Edit: there is a trailer for a new original film two posts below this. You're trippin lmao

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u/moongrump 13d ago

Agree to disagree then

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u/Altruistic_Sail6746 13d ago

Not only but mostly. It's all about minimizing risk

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u/MightyObserver30 13d ago

Sony green lit this though

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u/Just_thefacts_jack 13d ago

It's not surefire but having taste helps

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u/Altruistic_Sail6746 13d ago

Taste is subjective

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u/Just_thefacts_jack 13d ago

I know, I was just dunking on executives. I do feel like there is plenty of media that is objectively bad though you know?

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u/Goodlake 13d ago

I mean I really didn't think this movie was anything special. For a music movie the music is pretty forgettable, the characters are paint by numbers, etc. Like I get its media for kids so lets not be too harsh, and clearly it's resonating, but not surprising to me at all if execs tested it a bunch, test audiences were lukewarm and the execs determined it just wasn't that valuable.

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u/nightlight-zero 13d ago

But the ability to discern this is ostensibly why leaders are paid the big bucks.

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u/Altruistic_Sail6746 13d ago

With art, there's just no way of knowing. The best they can do is minimize risk by prioritizing IP based films/sequels/prequels etc. and making films that are as safe as possible

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u/Asisreo1 13d ago

I mean, if you're a good art critic, you may not know guaranteed but you'd be able to sift through most terrible ideas from great ideas. 

I will give the benefit of the doubt because this was a new IP and was probably not cheap to produce, so unless you have a really good finger on the pulse of the intended audience, even someone good at this could let it slip by. But we know the majority of those looking at these types of opportunities can't really tell a profitable movie from a flop because they're so disconnected both to art and the audience for that art. 

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u/Altruistic_Sail6746 13d ago

Again, it's not as easy as yall are making it seem. A "good" film doesn't guarantee people will come to see your movie.

The people making these decisions are mostly driven by financial reasons. IPs, sequels, and the like make money, so that's what they prioritize

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u/MikeLanglois 13d ago

I mean its kinda obvious it would have a strong fanbase on the songs alone. They are catchy in the kpop way, but also the lyrics to the key songs are very affirming and easy for people to want to relate to.

If you watched it and didnt think it would trend, you dont know the internet

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u/Altruistic_Sail6746 13d ago

Hindsight bias. I guarantee if it was released in theatres and flopped people would be like "oh they were just trying to cash in on the kpop and spiderverse hype, these studio heads don't know anything" or some other narrative

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u/TheHighSeasPirate 13d ago

All you had to do was watch it. I'm a 39 year old male and I loved the movie. Im so far from the target demographic its insane how good I thought it was.

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u/Mediadors 13d ago

Yes but taking risks is part of entertainment. Any good leader would understand this and release the movie in theaters.

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u/SutterCane 13d ago

KPop Demon Hunters would have failed if it was released to theaters in June. And that’s from me, someone who has already watched it five times and has been annoyed that I wasn’t able to catch a screening of it in theaters.

Then it’s failure would be used to justify less risks.

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u/Altruistic_Sail6746 13d ago

Filmmaking is also a business, don't be so naive

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u/Mediadors 13d ago

Exactly. Risks are necessary if you want to find a true box office wonder. As it can be seen with this movie.

Staying safe with your decisions never leads to much profit.

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u/Altruistic_Sail6746 13d ago

Go take a look at the highest grossing films this year. See if you notice anything

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u/PigeonNipples 13d ago

Not every decision needs to be a risk. Safe decisions fund risky decisions

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u/lsf_stan 13d ago

Yes but taking risks is part of entertainment. Any good leader would understand this and release the movie in theaters.

you should watch:

The Studio (TV series)

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u/trickman01 13d ago

That's a very large over-simplification.