Oscars 2026: 'KPop Demon Hunters' eyes Best Animation nomination
What's the story
Netflix's animated blockbuster, KPop Demon Hunters, has secured eligibility for the 98th Academy Awards. The film is one of the 35 films eligible for the Best Animated Feature category at next year's Oscars. Despite being a Netflix original, it had a qualifying theatrical run in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco earlier this year.
Competition
Other films in contention for Best Animated Feature
Apart from KPop Demon Hunters, several other films have become eligible for nomination. These include Neon's Arco, Disney's Elio and Zootopia 2, GKids's Little Amelie or the Character of Rain, Netflix's In Your Dreams, India's Mahavatar Narsimha and Crunchyroll/Sony's Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle and Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc.
Box office success
'KPop Demon Hunters' set records on Netflix
KPop Demon Hunters has become Netflix's most-watched film of all time, reportedly racking up over 500 million hours of viewership globally. The film also dominated the Billboard Hot 100 chart with eight tracks making it to the list. It was released in theaters in August and reportedly earned around $18 million during its run.
Other categories
Oscars: Documentary and International Feature categories
The documentary feature category saw the highest number of submissions with 201 films. Members of the documentary branch will vote to create a shortlist of 15 titles, announced on December 16, which will later be narrowed down to the final five nominees. The international feature category has 86 eligible films, including Homebound (India), Sentimental Value (Norway), Sirat (Spain), and The Secret Agent (Brazil).
Anticipation
'KPop Demon Hunters' fans await nomination announcement
Fans of KPop Demon Hunters will have to wait until January 22 to find out if their favorite film made it to the Best Animated Feature category. The film is also expected to be a contender in the original song category, with Golden being one of the submitted songs. The Oscars will be broadcast live on ABC on March 15 at 7:00pm (March 16 at 4:30am IST).