By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer
“KPop Demon Hunters” is one step closer to another golden moment: The Oscars. The Netflix phenomenon is among 35 films features eligible for the animated feature film category at the 98th Academy Awards.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released on Friday lists of all the films eligible for animated, documentary and international feature prizes at next year’s Oscars.
Though “KPop Demon Hunters” made its name on Netflix, it also received a qualifying theatrical run in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco in June, which satisfied the film academy’s requirements for Oscar consideration. Its UK theatrical run was not enough to qualify for the BAFTAs, however.
Other animated titles that qualified for the Oscars animated feature category were Neon’s “Arco,” Disney’s “Elio” and “Zootopia 2,” GKids’ “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain,” Netflix’s “In Your Dreams” and Crunchyroll/Sony’s “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” and “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc.” Notably, the Chinese blockbuster “Ne Zha 2” was not among the 35 titles listed.
“KPop Demon Hunters,” which Netflix has said is its most watched film of all time, has amassed more than 541 million hours viewed worldwide. It’s the highest charting soundtrack of 2025 with eight of its songs landing on the Billboard Hot 100. It also made a splash in theaters in August where it was estimated to have made around $18 million (which would have topped the charts if Netflix released theatrical earnings) and got a subsequent release over Halloween weekend. Netflix won their first animated feature Oscar in 2022 for “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.”
There are also 201 documentaries and 86 international features eligible, including “Sentimental Value” (Norway), “Sirât” (Spain), “The Secret Agent” (Brazil), “It Was Just an Accident” (France), “The Voice of Hind Rajab” (Tunisia) and “My Father’s Shadow” (United Kingdom). “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” a co-production between the AP and PBS Frontline, is eligible in both categories. Both documentary and international titles will be winnowed to a 10-film shortlist that will be revealed on Dec. 16.
“KPop Demon Hunters” fans will have to wait for nomination morning on Jan. 22 to hear whether or not they made the cut for animated feature. It’s largely expected to be a player in the original song category as well, where “Golden” is among the songs being submitted.
The 98th Oscars will air live on ABC on March 15 at 7 p.m. ET.