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Few films have taken the world by storm quite like KPop Demon Hunters, an Academy Award–winning sensation overflowing with dazzling animation, unforgettable characters, and tenaciously catchy songs. At the film’s center is the chart-topping girl group HUNTR/X, whose three members—Rumi, Mira, and Zoey—have been busy juggling the pressures of stardom with their secret duty to shield their fans from supernatural forces. When their demon enemies suddenly take the form of a rival boy band, the trio must overcome their deepest self-doubts and use their music to protect humanity. Richly layered with references to Korean culture both ancient and modern, this generation-bridging phenomenon has inspired millions of fans with its message of friendship and self-acceptance.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
New 4K digital master, approved by directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack
One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the film and special features
Full feature-length animatic, with a new introduction by Kang and Appelhans
New making-of documentary
Two video essays by filmmakers Taylor Ramos & Tony Zhou (Every Frame a Painting)
Lyric videos
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and English descriptive audio
Collectible postcards featuring original illustrations by artists who worked on the film
PLUS: An essay by critic Karen Han

New cover by Ami Thompson

the first Criterion title, 1333 spines in, to have its own McDonald's meal

ryannichols7 wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2026 4:18 pm the first Criterion title, 1333 spines in, to have its own McDonald's meal

Wall•E had em in June 2008

Mr.DarjeelingLimited wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2026 4:21 pm

ryannichols7 wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2026 4:18 pm the first Criterion title, 1333 spines in, to have its own McDonald's meal

Wall•E had em in June 2008

Edit, I’m wrong he was included in a line of Disney toys.

Mr.DarjeelingLimited wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2026 4:25 pm

Mr.DarjeelingLimited wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2026 4:21 pm

ryannichols7 wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2026 4:18 pm the first Criterion title, 1333 spines in, to have its own McDonald's meal

Wall•E had em in June 2008

Edit, I’m wrong he was included in a line of Disney toys.

plus if he'd had his own full meal, it would've gone against that movie pretty directly

great packaging on K-Pop Demon Hunters. I will probably get this, why not?

At the barest minimum this looks like a very nice gift for fans of the film. I still haven’t gotten around to watching it despite having a Netflix account. Maybe I’ll fit it in my kevyip somewhere.

Even though K-Pop is its own kind of phenomenon, anything to help spur Criterion develop their animation line is worth supporting.

There will be a DVD only release of this one as well, the first since Captain Blood?

domino harvey wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2026 10:14 pm There will be a DVD only release of this one as well, the first since Captain Blood?

Frankenstein, all Netflix titles will probably always have DVDs

Barnes and Noble is probably rejoicing today that their Q4 sales are gonna be up this year thanks to this title alone

I thought this movie could have had something to say, but what was there thematically came out very garbled. The songs were catchy, it looked okay, the character beats were either omitted or they just didn't hit at all. On top of that, the visuals splashed on the screen pretty hard, but they didn't evolve, or grow out of what was happening in the drama of the film very often, and so after the initial appearance of the derpy tiger the film seemed visually pretty well exhausted of inspiration. Considering it had a very similar central theme, Turning Red did it all with more inspiration, more fun, and that film came together about a million times better than Kpop Demon Hunters.

That said, I'm not surprised this did well. It celebrates a phenomenon people are already way into, making the superficial, jingoistic deployment of character, themes and even just moments within the story easier to ignore. To me there are just so many missed opportunities to make this tighter and more rewarding to watch. So for me it fits the Criterion lineup in the same way as something like Armaggedon; I hope it makes them the money they need to release things like Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, but it seems substantially off-brand to me.

It wasn't for me, but it's clearly going to go down in pop music history as THE K-pop movie of its time (or I guess right now). I really wish it was better, like a lot better, but there's no getting around the fact that it's a cultural event. Even if it's riding on a genre that's already big, it's not based on a pre-existing story, characters or any of K-pop's biggest acts - just making a K-pop animated film is no guarantee it'll be big, so kudos to them for making a massive hit out of newly created elements.

It is the biggest thing to happen to kids since Frozen and it functionally IS Frozen for these kids since this is their generation’s big movie. Even with reduced physical media buying habits this will be a massive money maker for Criterion and they clearly have some kind of first look deal with Netflix because I’m sure literally every label and Netflix themselves would fall over themselves to release this. Sony selling this to Netflix for a fast buck has to be up there with Blockbuster not buying Netflix and Yahoo not buying Google on the Bad Ideas List

That being the case, a Criterion blu-ray collection of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power would be a good addition to the Criterion animation collection––a fantastically-written show which Netflix just conspicuously took off their platform, to the consternation of a significant following (obviously not what Kpop Demon Hunters has, but a straw-poll of all my art students reveals some 80+ percent of them from semester to semester love the show). I don't know if it's possible, but that's how Criterion could make me happy about something like this.

This must be a money grab. Not meaning to sound like a snob or anything, but there are in my opinion far better animated movies that've been released over the years worthy of a Criterion release. If K-Pop Demon Hunters is the one to open that door I'm all for it.

Criterion has a deal with Netflix, and I do think this release needs to be looked through this channel, not through the entirety of what cinema has to offer in terms of "there are far better animated movies to release for Criterion", a label that also released Jellyfish Eyes, Armageddon and Tiny Furniture amongst others.

Moreover, while this is an obvious money maker, it's also a movie that garnered a lot of awards, including Golden Globes, a Grammy, an Academy Award, and various Critics Associations awards (Toronto, Washington DC, San Francisco, Chicago, London, ...).

feihong wrote: Sat Aug 15, 2026 5:43 am That being the case, a Criterion blu-ray collection of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power would be a good addition to the Criterion animation collection––a fantastically-written show which Netflix just conspicuously took off their platform, to the consternation of a significant following (obviously not what Kpop Demon Hunters has, but a straw-poll of all my art students reveals some 80+ percent of them from semester to semester love the show). I don't know if it's possible, but that's how Criterion could make me happy about something like this.

To my knowledge, Netflix had no involvement with the actual production and any licensing would be through Dreamworks Animation/Universal.

I might watch it someday even though it's not my kind of thing. I will say it's honestly nice to see two new video essays from Every Frame a Painting since they made their short film last year.

ChunkyLover wrote: Sat Aug 15, 2026 12:24 pm

feihong wrote: Sat Aug 15, 2026 5:43 am That being the case, a Criterion blu-ray collection of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power would be a good addition to the Criterion animation collection––a fantastically-written show which Netflix just conspicuously took off their platform, to the consternation of a significant following (obviously not what Kpop Demon Hunters has, but a straw-poll of all my art students reveals some 80+ percent of them from semester to semester love the show). I don't know if it's possible, but that's how Criterion could make me happy about something like this.

To my knowledge, Netflix had no involvement with the actual production and any licensing would be through Dreamworks Animation/Universal.

It would be through Sony Pictures Animation

ChunkyLover wrote: Sat Aug 15, 2026 12:24 pm To my knowledge, Netflix had no involvement with the actual production and any licensing would be through [Sony Pictures Animation]

It's true that Netflix had no involvement in the production, but Sony sold it to them lock, stock, and barrel. Or in this case, movie, sequel, and merchandising rights. Sony would have no say in anything at this point.

Mr.DarjeelingLimited wrote: Sat Aug 15, 2026 7:00 pm It would be through Sony Pictures Animation

Matt wrote: Sat Aug 15, 2026 8:55 pm It's true that Netflix had no involvement in the production, but Sony sold it to them lock, stock, and barrel. Or in this case, movie, sequel, and merchandising rights. Sony would have no say in anything at this point.

I was referring to feihong's regard about She-Ra.

My bad.

Anyway, I thought this was a good take (from Bluesky):

C. Robert Cargill @crobertcargill.bsky.social wrote: Criterion's K-POP DEMON HUNTERS release is targeting a generation just discovering the wonders of collecting physical media at a time when physical media companies need it most, while also introducing their catalogue to young movie lovers. This is a genius move. Get the kids into Criterion!

Actually, I still think this release appeals primarily to the adult collector, but what Cargill says has some merit. Some little boy or girl somewhere is going to get this for Christmas and end up asking for Fantastic Planet next Christmas. But it’s always wise to remember when Criterion releases things like this that not everything is FOR US.

Matt wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2026 8:24 am ...not everything is FOR US.

I'll just piggy back off this to make the observation that there's over 1,000 movies under the Criterion banner -- surely not every film will be enjoyed by every single person, and that's the point. Criterion have endured since the 1980s, across multiple formats. An achievement few other independent labels share and, I believe, is due to their ability to stay relevant to newer audiences.

I'm toying with getting this as a Christmas gift for my eight-year-old niece, but while I love to imagine it would get her into physical media, it's more likely she'd watch the main feature once on disc and never touch it again—for her it's much more convenient to just watch the movie (and the lyric videos, the only extra I think she'd be interested in) on smart TV via Netflix. But it's conceivable that an adolescent fan would check out the animatic or the making-of doc. If nothing else my niece could put the postcards on her wall.

I assume Criterion will manage to get this into mainstream shops like Walmart and Target too in time for it to be a default Christmas gift/stocking stuffer, can’t think of the last time that was a possibility. I bought my slip covered Criterion DVD copy of Royal Tenenbaums from a grocery store display, the DVD boom era was wild

domino harvey wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2026 4:34 pm I assume Criterion will manage to get this into mainstream shops like Walmart and Target too in time for it to be a default Christmas gift/stocking stuffer, can’t think of the last time that was a possibility. I bought my slip covered Criterion DVD copy of Royal Tenenbaums from a grocery store display, the DVD boom era was wild

I remember that Costco used to carry Criterions for a while.