In a letter to Netflix shareholders, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos sang the praises of the popular animated feature KPop Demon Hunters, which premiered on June 20, and has garnered 80 million views and is still the No. 1 most watched movie on the streamer weeks after its debut. “KPop Demon Hunters is a phenomenal success out of the gate. One of the things that I’m excited and really proud of the team over, is that it’s original animation — not a sequel, not a live action remake. Original animation … is very tough and has been struggling for years. Leo, The Sea Beast and now KPop Demon Hunters are original animation and we’re super thrilled about that,” he said after the release of the streamer’s second-quarter earnings. “Getting it right matters. The storytelling matters. The innovation and animation itself matters. And the fact that people are in love with this film and in love with the music from this film, that will keep it going for a long time. So we’re really thrilled. And now the next beat is, where does it go from here?”
The music-fueled original action-comedy from directors Maggie Kang and Chris Applehans, produced by Sony Pictures Animation, has garnered another 24.2 million views to reclaim the No. 1 spot on the English Film List. Additionally, animated feature has scored spots on the Top 10 lists of all countries ranked. And the movie’s fictional bands have made a strong showing on music charts; HUNTRX/S single “Golden” has reached No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts, as the biggest song in the world. The tune outpaces the hot tracks from their boy band/demon rivals Saja Boys, “Your Idol” (up to No. 3 Gobally / No. 5 excl. U.S.) and “Soda Pop” (up to No. 6 / No. 7).
The original soundtrack for KPop Demon Hunters has logged 96.3 million on-demand streams in its third week (No. 2 on Billboard 200) — marking the biggest streaming week for a soundtrack in more than three years. An LP of the soundtrack is available to purchase from Republic Records.
Netflix also released its Q2 financial earnings, and revealed a 16% increase over the same period in 2024. The total second quarter earnings were $11 billion, and the full year revenue is estimated to be somewhere between $44.8 billion and 45.2 billion Overall , viewers registered over 95 billion hours of Netflix (and possibly chilling) in the first quarter of 2025.
Illumination was the big champion on the Netflix animated feature list over the past six months. The studio’s The Secret Life of Pets 2 (with 106.8 million hours viewed and 74.5 million views), Despicable Me 4 (with 109.4 million hours viewed and 69.8 million views) and The Secret Life of Pets (95.6 million hours and 65.9 million overall views) landed on the streamer’s Top 15 overall chart of most popular movies.
On the TV side, Netflix’s new anime acquisition Sakamoto Days (Season One) was the most viewed animated show on the chart (No. 39 on the overall list). The series, which premiered on Jan. 11, has had 24.4 million views and 106 million total hours viewed. Peppa Pig (Season 6) was the next animated show on the list (No. 41 on the overall list) with 23.1 million views and 47 million hours viewed. Gabby’s Dollhouse (Season 11) was the third most popular animated show (No. 46 on the overall list) with 49.8 million hours viewed and 20.5 million views. Adi Shankar’s Devil May Cry (Season 1) also performed remarkably well with at the No. 4 spot of the animated list and No. 57 of the general chart, with 71.7 million hours viewed and overall 18.2 million views.
Preschool favorites Peppa Pig, Gabby’s Dollhouse, Masha and the Bear, PAW Patrol and CoComelon continued to attract worldwide audiences, while the French co-pro miniseries Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight miniseries (coproduced by Banijay, Les Editions Albert Rene, Legende Films, Montmartre Films and TAT Productions) and created by Alain Chabat (based on the Goscinny and Uderzo comics, also proved to be popular with Netflix watchers, ending up at the No. 8 spot of the animated chart (and the 71st spot of general chart) with 47.1 million hours viewed and 15.5 views
Here is the list of the most-watched animated features and TV series, according to Netflix’s biannual engagement report.
- Sakamoto Days: Season 1
- Peppa Pig: Season 6
- Gabby’s Dollhouse: Season 11
- Devil May Cry: Season 1
- Peppa Pig: Season 2
- Peppa Pig: Season 1
- Peppa Pig: Season 4
- Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight
- Gabby’s Dollhouse: Season 1
- Masha and the Bear: Season 5
- Peppa Pig: Season 5
- Peppa Pig: Season 2
- PAW Patrol: Season 8
- CoComeleon: Season 1
- CoComeleon Lane: Season 3
You can read Netflix’s full engagement list for the first half of 2025 here:
Sources: Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Netflix
