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Time Names 'KPop Demon Hunters' 2025 Breakthrough of the Year

The honor acknowledges record Netflix viewership with music success feeding a mounting awards haul.

Overview

  • Time unveiled a final‑edition cover featuring the film’s characters Rumi, Mira and Zoey, with 3D rendering by SPI and paintover work by Mingjue Chen and Scott Watanabe drawn from an in‑movie composition.
  • Since its June 20 release, the film became Netflix’s most‑watched title with roughly 325 million views in three months and reached the top 10 in 93 countries.
  • The movie earned three 2026 Golden Globe nominations on Dec. 8, including best animated motion picture, best cinematic and box office achievement, and best original song for Golden.
  • The soundtrack hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 as streams totaled 8.3 billion, while Golden spent 17 weeks atop the Billboard Global 200 and is up for multiple 2026 Grammy awards alongside a soundtrack nod.
  • This week, director Maggie Kang received South Korea’s Order of Cultural Merit, and Time’s New York event celebrated the film with live performances by the singers behind its hit songs.