There has been a lot of talk about summer blockbusters and box office performances in 2025, as several franchise-starter hopefuls, new cinematic universes, remakes, sequels, and even an original film or two try to make an impact with audiences. However, the defining movie of the summer was not found in theaters, yet it still broke records.
I'm talking, of course, about "KPop Demon Hunters," the animated film by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans produced by Sony Pictures Animation and released on Netflix
this past June, that's about a K-pop band who must defeat a rival boy band of demons for the soul of humanity. Though the film arrived — like most Netflix movies — without fanfare or promotion, it quickly became a global sensation.
The film's soundtrack, in particular, quickly captivated the planet's attention, just as much as the Saja Boys, who came to steal the souls of most of Seoul. The two fake K-pop groups in the movie shattered very real records in our world, with "Golden," the breakout song from fictional female group Huntr/X, reaching the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. The song became the very first K-pop song by female singers to reach that spot — meanwhile, Saja Boys' "Your Idol" is at No. 8. The two fictional bands have beaten real life K-pop bands like BTS and Blackpink in the charts, and Huntr/X is now the very first all-women band to reach the top of the Billboard 100 since "Bootylicious" by Destiny's Child all the way back in 2001.
This makes the funniest easter egg in the movie all the more clever, because it pairs Huntr/X up with another extremely popular band — one with a big connection to the animated movie.
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A Nod To The Real Huntr/X
The first easter egg comes early in the film, right after Huntr/X performs "How It's Done" to a mesmerized crowd who had no idea the group had just jumped out of an exploding plane while battling demons. The group meets with their manager, Bobby (Ken Jeong), who checks his phone to see how the song is performing, and we see that it's at the top of the charts, followed by the song "Strategy" by the real-life K-pop group Twice. Later, during the Idol Awards and right before everything goes to hell for Huntr/X, we see the band backstage in a hallway surrounded by posters, including one for Twice.
Twice is a Korean K-pop girl group composed of nine members that debuted in 2015. The band is particularly notable for the film because the members of the band (specifically Jeongyeon, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung) perform a cover of Huntr/X's "Takedown" during the end credits of "KPop Demon Hunters." The song "Strategy" is a real song by the group that even plays early in the film, right before Huntr/X releases "Golden."
The relationship between Twice and "KPop Demon Hunters" didn't just stop with the movie. The group performed "Takedown" at the recent Lollapalooza Chicago performance (the first K-pop girl group to perform on the main stage) and made waves online with a drone show that ended with "The Honmoon is Sealed," a reference to the movie.
"KPop Demon Hunters" has broken virtually every single viewership record on Netflix to become one of their biggest movies ever. It's been memed everywhere, and finally, Netflix is listening. The streamer is now considering not just sequels, but a live-action remake, and even a stage adaptation. Not only that, but Netflix has been forced to succumb to public pressure and do a limited theatrical release of the film in special sing-along events.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
