Netflix announced that animated film KPop Demon Hunters has reached 500 million views since it premiered on their platform.
The streaming giant penned a post on social media on Wednesday, December 24 to express gratitude to those who supported the film.
"We're goin' up, up, up, it's our moment! 💜 🎶🎤 THANK YOU so much to everyone who watched (and rewatched) KPOP Demon Hunters. Now, how many of these view are YOU responsible for?" Netflix posted on Instagram.
The animated movie centers on Huntr/x, a K-pop trio juggling their superstar lives with a hidden mission which is battling demons.
Their double life takes a dangerous turn when they clash with the Saja Boys, a rival boy group whose members are revealed to be actually demons.
KPop Demon Hunters features an all-star voice cast including Arden Cho, EJAE, Ahn Hyo-seop, Andrew Choi, May Hong, Audrey Nuna, Ji-young Yoo, Rei Ami, Joel Kim Booster, Kevin Woo, Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong, Lee Byung-hun, and Lea Salonga, among others.
In an August interview with The Playlist, actress Arden, who is the speaking voice behind the main character Rumi, shared her reaction to the film's success.
"It's so interesting because it's sort of like happening as we speak, but I also feel like it just feels so natural and easy because it's easy to talk about a project I love. It's easy to have conversations with people that I feel like you genuinely love the movie, and it just makes people feel good. And I know that's why I became an actor. I became an actor because I love stories. I love storytelling. I want people to feel good, and I want us to escape from the stress and sadness of life and have a moment of joy. I feel so lucky to have been almost re-inspired to want to continue this grind," she stated.
Meanwhile in September, in a conversation with Hyo-seop uploaded by Netflix K-Content on YouTube, film director Maggie Kang reflected on the success of the animated film.
Maggie admitted that she didn't foresee "that a single movie could gain so much popularity."
The film director also opened up about her apprehensions when she was making the movie.
"If you're living outside of Korea and you're Korean there's kind of this, I don't know, identity crisis, you know? There's kind of this fear that you're not a 100 percent Korean and you don't really know where you belong and I kinda felt that making the movie a little bit. Like am I Korean enough to make this movie? I asked myself that," she recalled.
On the key message she wanted to impart through KPop Demon Hunters, she shared: "Everyone has something they don't like about themselves. For Jinu, it was a decision in his past. For Rumi, it was something she couldn't erase. You don't need to embrace them but just acknowledge that they're there. Finding your best self and showing it to others without any shame. The movie is about shame. Recognizing that you have shame but not letting it control your life."