Netflix Movie Tops the Charts for Two Weeks
K-pop, Korean Food, Hanbok, and Hangul Galore
Soundtrack Tops the Music Charts
‘K-pop Demon Hunters’ Still Cut. Provided by Netflix
The Netflix animated film “K-pop Demon Hunters,” released on the 20th of last month, maintained its position as the number one movie globally for two weeks. The film’s incorporation of Korean culture and shamanism has attracted interest among international viewers, and the songs included in the film have also become popular.
According to Netflix on the 6th, the overseas-produced animation “K-pop Demon Hunters,” which features K-pop idols as the main characters, ranked first in the Netflix movie category from the 23rd to the 29th of last month. The accumulated viewing time exceeded 55.7 million hours. This film tells the story of ‘Huntress,’ a K-pop girl group and exorcists, who defeat the demonic boy group ‘Saja Boys.’
One of the reasons for the popularity of “K-pop Demon Hunters” is its faithful reflection of Korean culture in the film. Not only does it feature the major theme of K-pop, but it also includes Korean food, traditional clothing (hanbok), the Korean script (Hangul), Namsan Tower, and Baekho (the White Tiger of Korean mythology), realistically and intricately depicted. Director Maggie Kang stated, “The fact that such a Korean film has been produced by an American company is evidence of the powerful appeal of Korean culture,” and added, “It shows how much Korean culture has developed and how influential it has become.”
The popularity of the film has also boosted the soundtrack’s success. The included song “Your Idol” reached number one on the ‘Daily Top Songs’ US chart on the global music platform Spotify as of the 4th (local time). In the past, only three K-pop songs made it to the top of this chart: BTS member Jungkook’s “Seven,” Jimin’s “Who,” and BLACKPINK Rosé’s “Apartment.” Other tracks from the film, such as “Golden,” “How It’s Done,” and “Soda Pop,” reached the 2nd, 8th, and 10th positions respectively. The OST album itself grabbed attention early on by ranking 8th on the main Billboard 200 album chart in the US. A content industry insider noted, “The popularity of videos featuring K-pop idols like BTS, TWICE, and ZeroBaseOne imitating the OSTs and choreography likely helped absorb overseas fans’ interest.”