Out of the K-pop loop? Then I have three words for you: KPop Demon Hunters. The Netflix animated film about a K-pop girl group that, you guessed it, fights demons has become a surprise streaming hit thanks in large part to the monumental online buzz it has inspired.
Anyone who has been following social media trends over the past few years has noticed the huge role K-pop fans play in generating online conversation, engagement, and excitement. Their influence extends beyond music and entertainment to realms like luxury fashion, travel, and toys, to name just a few. With KPop Demon Hunters, Netflix has wisely catered to this active global audience to create an original hit rivaling some of the biggest theatrical releases of the year. We used our social listening and analytics solution to understand just how big of an impact it has made in the global summer movie battleground.
All data references relevant social, digital, and traditional media mentions from May 1 to August 12, 2025.
How KPop Demon Hunters Stacks Up Against 2025’s Biggest Summer Movies
Digital and traditional media mentions from May 1 to August 12, 2025, including social media sources like X, Pinterest, and YouTube.
Our analysis found that KPop Demon Hunters is the fourth-most mentioned movie of the five theatrical and two streaming releases we compared. Social media mentions of the Netflix hit surpassed those of theatrical heavyweights like Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon, as well as fellow streaming release Happy Gilmore 2. Only Jurassic World: Rebirth, Superman, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps have generated more conversation.
Most interesting, though, is that online conversation about KPop Demon Hunters generated 117 million engagement actions, more than any other film. By comparison, Superman was the next most engaged film, generating 62.1 million engagement actions. Ultimately, it’s that monumental online engagement that rocketed KPop Demon Hunters to viral success. Unlike the other films on our list, it is the only one that is a new franchise, not a sequel, prequel, or remake. However, what the film lacked in pre-existing audience recognition it made up for with genuine audience interaction.
Learn more about streaming industry trends in our Consumer Insights: Video Streaming Market report.
I won’t get into the many ways that the movie authentically engages with the K-pop genre through both the film itself as well as its wildly successful soundtrack. But on the social media marketing side, Netflix has given the streaming industry a masterclass in leveraging online conversations in real time to pour fuel on already hot moments.
Engagement actions on mentions of KPop Demon Hunters from May 1 to August 12, 2025, including social media sources like X, Pinterest, and YouTube.
For example, KPop Demon Hunter’s biggest day for engagement was July 14, when actual KPop star Jungkook of BTS livestreamed himself watching the film. As his emotional reaction quickly made headlines and activated legions of BTS fans across the internet, Netflix instantly jumped on and supercharged the already big moment by going all in as a true KPop fan would. The brand’s X account quickly reposted a fan account’s video of Jungkook crying while watching the movie and reportedly changed its header image and bio to reference the monumental event, whipping KPop fans on X into a frenzy.
Coming about a month after KPop Demon Hunter’s release, the viral moment marked a high point in excitement about the movie, and likely helped spiked viewership to record-breaking levels that week. Netflix’s ability to successfully leverage Jungkook’s reaction, and the conversation around it, came from weeks of consistent, high-profile engagement with Kpop fandoms. In social posts, the streamer depicted KPop stars as “derpy fans just like us” as one Instagram post featuring the girl group TWICE put it. Though TWICE is featured on the film’s soundtrack, another Netflix Instagram post featured Jay of the group ENHYPEN, who was not directly involved in the film. The post of him doing choreography from the film in the style of many a fan video was one of the account’s most popular of the past few months, generating over 880,000 engagement actions and about $1.2 million in Estimated Media Value.
Beyond Netflix’s owned accounts, fan-made content took on a life of its own across social channels. There were more than 65,000 mentions of KPop Demon Hunters on Pinterest and Bluesky, where fan-made art and memes generated significant engagement.
Over on YouTube, about 12,200 videos mentioned the movie, with one of the most popular being a 59-second clip of an artist drawing a KPop Demon Hunters character in two different styles. In one month, it has been viewed 8.4 million times. However, fan-made content doesn’t even have to be that artistic to resonate with like-minded audiences. Another popular YouTube tribute to the movie is a fan-made short splicing multiple scenes together. In one month, the five-second video has been viewed about 15 million times.
Check out our Ultimate Guide to Trendjacking for more guidelines for hopping on viral social media conversations.
What marketers can learn from the viral success of KPop Demon Hunters
KPop Demon Hunters attracted streaming audiences by winning over the internet via authentic engagement with K-pop’s rich online world. Here are a few things marketers in any industry can learn from the runaway hit.
- Treat fandoms like collaborators. Activate these dedicated online communities by giving them the tools, inspiration, and motivation they need to create viral content. Leveraging that content through collaborative posts and other activations shows fans that their voice matters to the brands and franchises they love, which in turn builds long-term loyalty.
- Move fast on viral moments. Speed is everything, but the key to knowing when and when not to act fast is having the kind of cultural intelligence that comes with consistently monitoring and analyzing your audience. This is where strategic keyword monitoring comes in hand — use an advanced social listening solution to get the deepest insights.
- Originality still matters. In a world full of reinvention, good old-fashioned invention still sticks out. Use audience interest to guide you toward new ideas and concepts, not just ones that can be rehashed.
