KPop Demon Hunters has officially cemented its status as a global phenomenon, topping Netflix’s viewership charts for the second half of 2025 with a staggering 482 million views. This remarkable achievement was detailed in Netflix’s latest “What We Watched” engagement report, released on January 20, 2026, which tracks viewing data from July to December 2025.
The animated musical fantasy film’s performance significantly outpaced all other titles on the platform during the six-month period, solidifying its position as Netflix’s most-watched title over that span.
The report, which measures engagement by “views” (total hours viewed divided by runtime), captured a total of 96 billion hours watched on Netflix globally during the latter half of 2025.
KPop Demon Hunters not only led the pack in film viewership but also surpassed major series like “Wednesday” Season 2 and “Stranger Things” Season 5 in terms of overall viewership for the period. The film’s success is further underscored by the 32 million additional views garnered by its accompanying lyric videos, indicating strong audience engagement and repeat viewing.
Unprecedented Viewership Figures
The 482 million views for KPop Demon Hunters represent a new record for a single title over a six-month reporting window on Netflix. This figure excludes the initial 10 days following its June 20, 2025, premiere, suggesting its total audience is even larger. The film’s performance eclipses that of other major releases, including “Happy Gilmore 2,” which garnered 135 million views, and Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” which secured 98 million views in the same period.
Franchise Dominance on Streaming Charts
KPop Demon Hunters‘s success is part of a broader trend highlighted in the report, where strong fandom-led content drives significant engagement. The film’s animated format and K-pop-inspired themes appear to have resonated widely across global audiences, contributing to its sustained popularity. The report indicates that non-English language titles continue to perform well on the platform, accounting for more than a third of all viewing hours.
Comparison with Other Top Titles
In the series category, “Wednesday” Season 2 emerged as the most-watched show in the second half of 2025, with 124 million views, followed by “Stranger Things” Season 5 with 94 million views. Despite the strong performance of these established franchises, KPop Demon Hunters’s film viewership numbers dwarfed those of the top series, demonstrating its exceptional reach. Even the combined viewership of all five seasons of “Stranger Things” during this period, totaling 275 million views, fell short of the animated film’s singular performance.
Context of Netflix’s Viewing Metrics
Netflix calculates “views” by dividing the total hours watched by a title’s runtime, a metric designed to reflect engaged viewing across its global subscriber base. The “What We Watched” report aims to provide greater transparency into viewership data, a long-standing request from creators and industry stakeholders. The comprehensive data release covers a vast amount of content, with the second half of 2025 alone accounting for 96 billion hours of total platform consumption.
Future Implications and Continued Success
The record-breaking performance of KPop Demon Hunters suggests a growing reliance on animated content and culturally specific narratives to drive global engagement for Netflix. While a sequel is reportedly four years away, the film’s enduring popularity, evidenced by its continued presence on Netflix’s Top 10 list seven months after its release, indicates a strong potential for future franchise expansion. The film’s critical acclaim, including Golden Globe wins for Best Original Feature and Best Original Song, further bolsters its position as a significant cultural and commercial success.