KPop Demon Hunters, the animated feature directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, won the Best Motion Picture – Animated award at the 83rd Golden Globe Awards. The film, backed by Sony Pictures Animation and released globally on Netflix, defeated Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 1.
The film also secured the Best Original Song – Motion Picture award for its song “Golden,” giving the title two major wins at the ceremony.
The film began streaming exclusively on Netflix on June 20, 2025, and quickly emerged as a major commercial success. According to Netflix, KPop Demon Hunters became the most-watched original title in the platform’s history, surpassing 500 million views.
A sing-along version of the film later received limited theatrical releases on Aug 23–24 and Oct 31–Nov 2. That release marked Netflix’s widest theatrical rollout by number of theaters and became the first Netflix film to top the U.S. box office.
The soundtrack matched the film’s momentum, making history as the first movie soundtrack to land four tracks in the Billboard Hot 100 top 10, later earning double-platinum certification from the RIAA in October 2025 and five Grammy nominations.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, on the other hand, was the only Japanese anime film nominated in the category. Despite missing out on the Golden Globe, the film achieved record-breaking box office success worldwide.
The film grossed over USD 779.5 million worldwide, making it the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2025 and the highest-grossing international film ever released in the United States, surpassing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).
It also broke multiple box-office records, including becoming the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time (worldwide), the highest-grossing R-rated animated film, and the first R-rated non-American animated film to cross the USD 700 million mark. The film also ranks as the second highest-grossing traditionally animated film, behind The Lion King (1994).
Infinity Castle is eligible for consideration in the Best Animated Feature category at the 98th Academy Awards.
Other films nominated in the Best Motion Picture – Animated category include Zootopia 2, Elio, Arco, and Little Amélie or the Character of Rain.
At the 81st Golden Globe Awards in 2024, the category was won by Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron.
Source: Oricon
