It’s official: ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ is now aiming to enter the pantheon of cinema
Netflix’s global hit is among the 35 films eligible for the Best Animated Feature category at the 98th Academy Awards.
‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ the hit Netflix animated film that has taken the world by storm in terms of views—it is by far the most watched film on the platform—is one step closer to making history again, this time at the Oscars. So much so that the film is already among the 35 films selected for the Best Animated Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards. This has been made official by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which has published the list of all the films entering the upcoming competition.
Will Netflix’s ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ win an Oscar?
Last Friday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences published the lists of all the films nominated for Oscars in the categories of animation, documentaries, and international feature films for next year’s awards, scheduled for March 15, 2026. And even though ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ became a phenomenon on its launch platform, the film also had a series of limited screenings in US theaters, making it eligible for the Oscars.
The same did not happen in the United Kingdom, as its brief run in theaters was not enough to be considered for the BAFTAs. ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ will have to compete with other animated titles that have been selected for the Oscar’s animated feature film category, such as Neon’s Arco, Disney’s Elio and Zootopia 2, GKids’ Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, Netflix’s In Your Dreams, and Crunchyroll/Sony’s 'Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle’ and ‘Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc’ from Crunchyroll/Sony. It should be noted that the Chinese box office hit ‘Ne Zha 2’ was not among the 35 titles listed.
Of course, the numbers achieved by ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ are impressive, as it has accumulated more than 541 million hours of views worldwide. It is the most-watched soundtrack of 2025, with eight of its songs on the Billboard Hot 100. It also caused a sensation in select theaters in August, where it is estimated to have grossed around $18 million. Furthermore, there is a precedent: Netflix won its first Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film in 2022 for Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Pinocchio.’
Fans of ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ will have to wait until nomination day, scheduled for January 22, 2026, to find out if their favorite animated film has been selected for the Best Animated Feature Film award. It is also expected to compete in the Original Song category, where Golden is among the songs submitted.
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‘KPop Demon Hunters’ can be viewed in the United States on Netflix.
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