KPop Demon Hunters: A Cultural Phenomenon Eyeing Oscar Glory

Mon Oct 20 2025 09:16:02 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

The directors of the animated hit 'KPop Demon Hunters' discuss the film's Oscar chances and the potential for a sequel following its record-breaking success on Netflix.

In an exclusive interview, Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, the co-directors of 'KPop Demon Hunters', express excitement over the film's monumental success, which surpassed 325 million views on Netflix and broke numerous records. As discussions of a possible sequel take shape, the duo shares insights into the film's reception and its strong candidacy for the Oscars, with critics predicting nominations in the Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song categories. in addition to the praise, the film’s musical success adds to its acclaim as it continues to engage audiences globally.

Maggie Kang, the creator and co-director of Kpop Demon Hunters, has said she is excited for the potential for more stories involving animated girl group Huntr/x.

Speaking to the BBC during a visit to Europe, Kang explained that while there was nothing official we can talk about, she and co-director Chris Appelhans believe there's definitely more we can do with these characters in this world.

And whatever it will be, it will be a story that deserves to be a sequel, and it will be something that we want to see, she added.

Kpop Demon Hunters has become a cultural phenomenon this year, overtaking Squid Game as the most watched title in Netflix history, with more than 325m views.

The animated film tells the story of a hugely successful female Kpop trio, who play enormous concerts at the same time as trying to save the world from evil forces. They end up locked in battle against a boy band called Saja Boys, who are made up of demons.

There is now a real belief that Kpop Demon Hunters could be set to slay the Oscars.

Critics have loved the film, which holds a score of 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the online review aggregator.

The influential Gold Derby predictions website now has it as the favourite for the best animated film, ahead of Zootopia 2 and Elio.

“The title alone is obviously Oscar bait,” laughs Chris Appelhans.

Netflix has stated that breakout hit Golden will be included for Academy consideration. The directors have expressed hopes for nominations in multiple categories.