From Netflix to No. 1: ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Repeats a Milestone Not Seen Since 1977

The KPop Demon Hunters phenomenon is bigger than ever. The Netflix animated musical has taken both the music and box office worlds by storm.

At the center of it is HUNTR/X, the girl group from the movie. Their song Golden hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 two weeks ago. It slipped to number two last week, but now it’s back at the top for a second time.

“Golden” isn’t alone. According to Billboard, KPop Demon Hunters has become the first movie soundtrack in almost 50 years to have three songs in the Top 5 of the Hot 100 at the same time. The last film to do that was Saturday Night Fever in 1977.

Other tracks from the movie are also dominating the charts. The demonic boy band Saja Boys have Your Idol at number four and Soda Pop at number five. HUNTR/X’s How It’s Done sits at number ten.

Billboard notes this is the first time one soundtrack has ever placed four songs in the Top 10 in the same week. For comparison, the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack had five Top 10 hits in 1995 and 1996, but never four at once.

The movie isn’t just winning on the charts. After weeks of streaming success, Netflix gave KPop Demon Hunters a theatrical release last weekend. The film earned $16-18 million, putting it at number one for the week.

Billboard reports that this is the first time a Netflix movie has ever topped the box office, which makes sense because the company rarely releases its films in theaters.

Outside of KPop Demon Hunters, the rest of the Hot 100 is filled with familiar names. Alex Warren’s Ordinary is at number two, followed by Morgan Wallen and Tate McRae’s What I Want at number three.

Ravyn Lenae’s Love Me Not is at number six, Teddy Swims’ Lose Control is at number seven, Justin Bieber’s Daisies sits at number eight, and Wallen’s Just In Case is at number nine.

With both music and box office success, KPop Demon Hunters has proven that an animated Netflix musical can make a massive impact in multiple arenas, breaking records that have stood for decades.

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