'K-pop Demon Hunters' sweeps Oscars, Grammys, AMAs — and a sequel is coming in 2029

K-pop Demon Hunters took home two Oscars — Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song. Its theme song Golden had already won a Grammy, a Golden Globe, and an AMA award.

The film landed on Netflix in June of last year and racked up 325 million views, making it the most-watched film in Netflix history. Golden then dominated the US Billboard Hot 100 for 8 consecutive weeks at number 1.

At the 68th Grammy Awards, Golden won Best Song Written for Visual Media. It was the first Grammy trophy ever won by a K-pop act. The song had already picked up the theme song award at the 83rd Golden Globe Awards before sweeping the Oscars. The 2026 American Music Awards gave it Song of the Year, with Lee Jae and Ray Ami accepting and quoting the film: "We properly closed the gate of confusion."

Then came the Oscar ceremony itself. Lee Jae, Audrey Nuna, and Ray Ami — who voiced the Huntrix group in the film — performed Golden on the Oscar stage. No K-pop act had ever performed there before. When Lee Jae accepted the award, he said, "There is no late time to shine, just as it should have shone from birth," then shouted in Korean, "Mom, I love you."

Director Maggie Kang cried the moment she heard the final version of the track. "I intentionally made the high note parts difficult to convey the characters' growth narrative and passionate emotions," she said. (Four major Western awards in one cycle is the kind of stat that rewrites what K-pop's ceiling looks like.) A sequel is already in production, targeting a 2029 release.