Tag: KPop Demon Hunters

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‘Sinners’ breaks records at 2026 Oscar nominations

The horror film “Sinners” by Ryan Coogler broke Oscar history by earning a total 16 Oscar nominations on Thursday for the 98th Academy Awards, which will be presented on March 15. The previous record of 14 had been held by “All About Eve,” “Titantic” and “La La Land.”

The nominations were additionally notable as horror films tend to be excluded from Oscar honors.

Directed by Ryan Coogler, the film features actor Michael B. Jordan in a dual role of twin brothers who face supernatural forces in the southern US of the Jim Crow era. 

“Sinners” is considered a frontrunner in the best picture category. It will also compete for best director, best screenplay, best lead actor, and best original song, among others. 

A total of 10 films were nominated for the best picture Oscar on Thursday. In addition to “Sinners,” “One Battle After Another” and “Sentimental Value” are also seen as strong contenders. 

The latter, “Sentimental Value,” a family drama, recently swept the European Film Awards.

The other best picture nominees are “Bugonia,” “F1,” “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” “The Secret Agent,” and “Train Dreams.” The films were selected out of 201 contenders.

“One Battle After Another,” a father-daughter revolutionary saga, placed second for total nominations, with a total of 13 nods that included best director (Paul Thomas Anderson) and four best actor awards.

Alongside Coogler and Anderson, the other contenders for best director are Chloe Zhao (“Hamnet”), Josh Safdie (“Marty Supreme”) and Joachim Trier (“Sentimental Value”).

Timothee Chalamet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ethan Hawke, Michael B. Jordan and Wagner Moura all received nominations for best actor in a leading role, while Jessie Buckley, Rose Byrne, Kate Hudson, Renate Reinsve and Emma Stone were nominated in the leading actress category.

Best casting, the first new category to be added to the Oscars in 25 years, highlights the work of selecting actors for a film. Five films received nominations, including “Sinners.”

The animated musical smash hit “KPop Demon Hunters” received nods for best animated film, where it is considered the favorite, and for best original song for the earworm “Golden.” The film was released on Netflix — and went on to break the streaming platform’s all-time viewing record — but qualified for the Oscars based on a limited sing-along release in theaters.

Meanwhile, on the international front, films from Brazil (“The Secret Agent”), France (“It was Just an Accident”), Norway (“Sentimental Value”), Spain (“Sirat”) and Tunisia (“The Voice of Hind Rajab”) made it to the final for the best international feature film award.

Germany’s entry to the competition, “Sound of Falling,” did not make it to the final.

The full list of nominations is available at the Oscar website (DW)

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KPop Demon Hunters wins Golden Globes for best animated film

Netflix mega-hit KPop Demon Hunters has won a Golden Globe for best animated feature, while its breakout anthem Golden was named best original song.

The animated film, which centres on a girl band Huntr/x that uses music to save the world from evil forces, has scored many chart-topping achievements since it premiered in June.

“Through this film we really wanted to depict female characters the way that we know women, which is really strong and bold,” director Maggie Kang said.

Fellow director Chris Appelhans, who accepted the best animated feature award with Kang, called the film a “love letter to music”. “To the power it has to connect us, to make us see some kind of shared humanity,” he said.

Fans have spoken of how the film’s empowering themes of self-acceptance, community, and fighting against inner “demons” resonated with them.

Singer-songwriter Ejae, who co-wrote and performed Golden, accepted the award for best original song along with Mark Sonnenblick and Lee Hee-joon.

In a tearful speech, she recalled her “tireless” pursuit early in her career to become a K-pop idol had ended with rejection and disappointment.

She dedicated the award to “people who have [had] their doors closed at them”. “It’s never too late to shine like you were born to be”, she said, quoting the song’s lyrics.

“I’m so part of a song that is helping other girls, other boys and everyone all get through their hardship to accept themselves,” she said.

KPop Demon Hunters quickly became an animated sensation since its release in June.

It became Netflix’s most-watched film of all time within two months, with Golden clinching the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 just weeks after it dropped. Another track, Your Idol, made it to number eight on the Hot 100.

Sunday’s Golden Globe accolades come after the film was named best animated feature and Golden named best song at the Critics Choice Award early this month.

Ejae earlier told the BBC that the film’s success “feels like a dream”.

“It’s like I’m surfing for the first time and a big wave just came through,” she told BBC Newsbeat. “I’m trying my best to get through it.

Korean-American actress Arden Cho, who voiced the main character Rumi, said her life mirrored Rumi’s journey.

“I can honestly say that at different points in my life, I hated a lot of myself and I wanted to be someone else,” she told BBC Global Women.

“I hated that I looked Asian, that I didn’t have blue eyes and blonde hair, because that’s what was beautiful at the time.”

Cho said the film was a tribute to people in underrepresented communities – it’s a film that brings “hope and joy and love to all these different communities”.

The film’s success at the Golden Globes – often seen as a prelude to the Academy Awards – will likely stoke Oscar buzz.

KPop Demon Hunters is one of 35 film features eligible for the animated feature category at this year’s Oscars. However the films shortlisted for this category has not yet been announced. (BBC)

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Demon-hunting HUNTR/X to debut live performance on ‘The Tonight Show’ next week


The singing trio behind HUNTR/X, the fictional music group at the center of the summer’s massively popular animated film “KPop Demon Hunters,” is scheduled to perform live for the first time Oct 7 on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

The NBC show announced that Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami will perform their smash hit “Golden” from the Sony Pictures/Netflix film that gave Netflix is first No. 1 box-office title in the streaming company’s 18-year history. The film’s soundtrack topped the charts.

The three will also join Fallon on the couch for interviews. Their appearance will stream the next day on Peacock. Jennifer Lopez is also a guest.

The film centers on Huntr/X, the superstar K-pop trio who double as demon hunters. The members, Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong) and Zooey (Ji-young Yoo), must protect their fans and face their biggest enemy yet: a rival boy band made up of demons in disguise.

Fans have flooded the internet with art, covers, cosplay and choreography in response to the movie, which continues to be a mainstay on Netflix’s weekly Top 10 list since its launch 14 weeks ago. (JapanToday)

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‘KPop Demon Hunters’ completes another chart double in Australia

It’s another chart week, another chart double for KPop Demon Hunters (Republic/Universal) in Australia.

The soundtrack to the hit animated Netflix film is flying at the top of the ARIA leaderboard for a ninth non-consecutive week. Among soundtracks, ARIA reports, that effort equals the nine week run by the 1997 soundtrack for Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet.

Since the ARIA Charts were first published in 1983, only four soundtracks have logged more weeks at the top, according to the charts compiler: the Australian cast recording of Jesus Christ Superstar (10 weeks in 1992); plus Titanic (1998), Moulin Rouge (2001) and A Star Is Born (2018), which each led for 11 weeks.

Meanwhile, the top track from KPop Demon Hunters, “Golden,” reigns over the ARIA Singles Chart for a ninth consecutive week. That’s closing in on the all-time mark for a hit from an animated film, currently set at 12 weeks by Pharrell Williams’ 2014 single “Happy” from Despicable Me 2.

Back with the ARIA Albums Chart, Ocean Alley’s Love Balloon (via Community Music) lifts off for a No. 3 debut, the highest start for any new release on the current frame, published Friday, Sept. 26.

Recorded in three stints over about three months, Love Balloon is Ocean Alley’s fifth studio album, and first recorded with legendary American rock producer Nick DiDia (Bruce Springsteen, Rage Against The Machine).

With that bright start, Love Balloon is the Sydney indie-rock outfit’s third consecutive collection to hit No. 3, following 2020’s Lonely Diamond and 2022’s Low Altitude Living. Their breakthrough second album from 2018, Chiaroscuro, which housed the triple j Hottest 100 leader “Confidence,” reached No. 11 on the national survey.

Ocean Alley scores silverware as Love Balloon is crowned on the ARIA Top 20 Australian Albums chart, a feat they celebrated Saturday at London’s Alexandra Palace, with a headline show for more than 8,000 fans.

Also debuting in the top tier is Cardi B‘s sophomore studio album, Am I The Drama? (Atlantic/Warner), new at No. 8. Drama is the followup to the Bronx rapper’s 2018, Invasion Of Privacy, which peaked at No. 5.

Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails bags a top 10 with the soundtrack to TRON: Ares (Interscope/Universal). It’s new at No. 10 for the American industrial rock act’s sixth top tier effort in Australia, a tally that includes a best of No. 2 for 1999’s The Fragile. Daft Punk’s soundtrack to TRON: Legacy reached No. 17 in 2011.

Lola Young just misses out on a top 10 berth with I’m Only F—ing Myself (Island/Universal), her third album. It’s new at No. 12, for the British singer’s first ARIA Albums Chart appearance.

Further down the list, published late Friday, September 26th, Brisbane band Platonic Sex crack the top 40 with their debut album Face To The Flywire (Orchard). It’s new at No. 31. (Billboard)

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Kpop Demon Hunters becomes Netflix’s most viewed film ever

KPop Demon Hunters has climbed “up, up, up” Netflix’s charts to become its most viewed movie ever, the streaming platform says.

Since its release in June, the animated musical has been watched more than 236 million times, overtaking the action comedy Red Notice to take the top spot.

It is the latest in a series of chart-topping achievements by the film, which has become a surprise global hit.

Songs from the movie have also been some of the most streamed online on Spotify, while the track Golden hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this month.

Produced by Sony Pictures Animation, Kpop Demon Hunters follows the adventures of fictional K-pop girl band Huntr/x as its three members use their music and fighting skills to protect humans from demons.

It was launched in June with a relatively low-key premiere at Netflix’s Tudum theatre in Los Angeles.

But over the summer the film gained momentum through word of mouth, boosted by viral videos and memes on social media.

Many have praised it for its eye-catching animation and its depiction of both traditional and modern Korean culture.

But the biggest attraction for many has been the movie’s catchy K-pop songs. Some of the soundtrack’s producers and songwriters are K-pop industry veterans who have worked with groups such as BTS and Twice.

Maggie Kang, the Korean-Canadian co-director of the film, previously said that they had wanted the film’s music to be “really incredible and really speak to the K-pop fans and be legitimately fit into the K-pop space”.

Capitalising on the songs’ popularity, Netflix released a sing-along version of Kpop Demon Hunters in cinemas in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand last weekend.

This netted Netflix its first number one film at the US box office. It has since released the sing-along version worldwide on its platform.

Many songs on the soundtrack have entered the top 10 of Spotify’s global chart, with Golden currently still at number one.

That track, along with Your Idol by Saja Boys, the arch enemies of Huntr/x in the film, have at different times topped the US Spotify chart.

This has made Huntr/x and Saja Boys the highest charting female and male K-pop groups in US Spotify history – surpassing real-life K-pop juggernauts BTS and Blackpink.

The Kpop Demon Hunters soundtrack has also become the first to have four simultaneous Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.

Talks about a film sequel are reportedly in the early stages. (BBC)