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‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Movie Holds Its Own Atop Music and Movie Charts 

This image released by Netflix shows characters, from left, Rumi, Mira, and Zoey in a scene from "KPop Demon Hunters." (Netflix via AP)
This image released by Netflix shows characters, from left, Rumi, Mira, and Zoey in a scene from "KPop Demon Hunters." (Netflix via AP)
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‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Movie Holds Its Own Atop Music and Movie Charts 

This image released by Netflix shows characters, from left, Rumi, Mira, and Zoey in a scene from "KPop Demon Hunters." (Netflix via AP)
This image released by Netflix shows characters, from left, Rumi, Mira, and Zoey in a scene from "KPop Demon Hunters." (Netflix via AP)

From K-pop trainee to songwriter and now a leading singer in "KPop Demon Hunters," South Korean artist EJAE poured everything she knew about popular Korean music into the Netflix project.

The animated film that has become a cultural phenomenon includes the chart-topping hit "Golden," which EJAE performs.

"I just love how 'Golden' is a very hopeful song, so not just America, but globally, everyone's resonating with it," the singer told Reuters.

"It feels like we're all like connecting together," she added. The 33-year-old was signed by South Korea's SM Entertainment when she was in her teens as a trainee, learning singing, dancing and performing in anticipation of launching a career as a K-pop artist.

Instead of singing, she initially became a songwriter and producer who worked with popular groups such as Aespa, Twice, Red Velvet, Nmixx and others to capture the authentic sound of the genre.

"KPop Demon Hunters" debuted on the streaming platform on June 20, quickly garnering global praise from critics and audiences.

The story follows a trio of demon hunters that perform K-pop music to both impress fans and combat demons. A sing-along version of "KPop Demon Hunters" topped the domestic box office over the weekend, in what appears to be a historic first for streaming giant Netflix.

The movie brought in an estimated $18 million from US and Canada box offices, according to IMDb's Box Office Mojo, surpassing the $15.6 million for horror movie "Weapons."

"KPop Demon Hunters" centers on Rumi, the lead singer of the group, with musical vocals provided by EJAE and a speaking voice from Arden Cho.

Rumi struggles with her identity and fears that her two best friends, Mira, voiced by May Hong, and Zoey, voiced by Ji-young Yoo, won’t accept her for who she really is.

The film was produced by Sony Pictures Animation. While the fictional K-pop girl group called HUNTR/X has achieved enormous real-life success, Cho has been surprised by some of the audience reactions to the movie’s music.

"Someone was saying that HUNTR/X voices were A.I. (artificial intelligence) because it's so good," Cho said.

"It's so good that they were like, ‘Oh, those singers must be AI.’ ‘No, we're real. We're here,’" she added.

The movie's soundtrack has dominated the charts this summer, boasting over 3 billion global streams to date, with breakout hit "Golden" hitting #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Netflix reports.

The action-packed movie is also the highest-charting soundtrack of 2025 so far with songs "How It's Done", "What It Sounds Like" and "Free" also ranking with "Golden" in the top 10 most streamed songs for the week ending on August 14, according to Luminate.

To create "Golden," which is getting Grammy Award buzz, EJAE had to hit some high notes.

"Whenever Rumi sings, you know, they (the directors) really wanted her to belt, show off her vocals because that's her role, right?" EJAE said.

"So, yes, I put as many high notes as possible. And like, I honestly found my range while singing 'Golden,'" she added.

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Entertainment

'Train Dreams,' 'The Secret Agent' Nab Spirit Wins to Boost Oscars Campaigns

'Train Dreams' director Clint Bentley speaks to the audience after his film grabbed best feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, as it continues its best picture Oscars campaign. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
'Train Dreams' director Clint Bentley speaks to the audience after his film grabbed best feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, as it continues its best picture Oscars campaign. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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'Train Dreams,' 'The Secret Agent' Nab Spirit Wins to Boost Oscars Campaigns

'Train Dreams' director Clint Bentley speaks to the audience after his film grabbed best feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, as it continues its best picture Oscars campaign. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
'Train Dreams' director Clint Bentley speaks to the audience after his film grabbed best feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, as it continues its best picture Oscars campaign. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Period drama "Train Dreams" took home the Spirit Awards win for best feature Sunday, as both it and "The Secret Agent" gathered momentum ahead of the Academy Awards.

"The Secret Agent" notched best international film as its team hopes to win in the same category at the Oscars next month.

The annual Film Independent Spirit Awards ceremony only celebrates movies made for less than $30 million.

"Train Dreams," director Clint Bentley's adaptation of the Denis Johnson novella, follows a railroad worker and the transformation of the American northwest across the 20th century.

The film won three of its four categories, also grabbing wins for best director and best cinematography. The movie's lead, Joel Edgerton, however, did not take home best actor, which went to Rose Byrne for "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You."

"Train Dreams" producer Teddy Schwarzman told AFP the film "is a singular journey, but it hopefully helps bring people together to understand all that life entails: love, friendship, loss, grief, healing and hope."

"Train Dreams" will compete for best picture at the Oscars, among other honors.

Big win for Brazil

After "The Secret Agent" nabbed best international film, director Kleber Mendonca Filho hailed the win as one that hopefully "gives more visibility to Brazilian cinema."

The film follows a former academic pursued by hitmen amid the political turmoil of Brazil under military rule.

It prevailed Sunday over contenders including rave-themed road trip movie "Sirat," which will compete alongside "The Secret Agent" for best international feature film at the Oscars, capping Hollywood's awards season.

"The Secret Agent" will also be up for best picture, best actor and best casting.

Brazil's "I'm Still Here" won best international feature at the Oscars last year.

Other Spirit winners on Sunday included "Lurker," for best first screenplay and best first feature film.

"Sorry, Honey" nabbed best screenplay and "The Perfect Neighbor" scored best documentary.

The Academy Awards will be presented on March 15.

Entertainment

Hiam Abbass Says ‘Cinema Is a Political Act’ After Berlin Row

13 February 2026, Berlin: Palestinian actress and film director actress Hiam Abbass attends the photocall for the film “In a Whisper” at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, taking place from February 12 to 22, 2026. (dpa)
13 February 2026, Berlin: Palestinian actress and film director actress Hiam Abbass attends the photocall for the film “In a Whisper” at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, taking place from February 12 to 22, 2026. (dpa)
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Hiam Abbass Says ‘Cinema Is a Political Act’ After Berlin Row

13 February 2026, Berlin: Palestinian actress and film director actress Hiam Abbass attends the photocall for the film “In a Whisper” at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, taking place from February 12 to 22, 2026. (dpa)
13 February 2026, Berlin: Palestinian actress and film director actress Hiam Abbass attends the photocall for the film “In a Whisper” at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, taking place from February 12 to 22, 2026. (dpa)

The start of this year's Berlin Film Festival was marked by a row over how far film should venture into politics but for prominent French-Palestinian actor Hiam Abbass, "everything we do is a political act".

Abbass is starring in two films being presented at this year's Berlinale festival and in an AFP interview she emphasized the importance of a politically engaged approach to cinema.

At Thursday's opening press conference jury president Wim Wenders sparked controversy by saying "we cannot really enter the field of politics", in response to a question about Germany's support for Gaza.

"I don't agree," Abbass told AFP.

"There's a lack of courage among people in the film world -- among some, not all," said Abbass, who gained global attention for her role as Marcia Roy in the hit HBO series Succession.

She recognized that Wenders's remarks were "taken out of context", as he did talk about cinema's capacity to "change the world", albeit in a different way from party politics.

Nevertheless, Abbass said she was glad to see filmmakers at this year's festival "commit to amplifying stories and voices of minorities, oppressed people, people experiencing bombardment, genocides".

"Today more than ever, if we don't tackle these subjects, we're making art for art's sake, and that's something that doesn't interest me."

- 'Act of resistance' -

Abbass, who was born in Nazareth in northern Israel but has been living in France for 37 years, stars in two films at the festival with striking political messages.

In "Only Rebels Win" by Lebanese filmmaker Danielle Arbid, Abbass plays a Christian Palestinian living in Beirut who faces a backlash from those around her because of her relationship with a South Sudanese Muslim migrant 40 years her junior.

Israeli bombardments between September and November 2024 forced the production to relocate from Beirut to a studio near Paris, where the team deployed creative solutions to recreate the Lebanese capital.

Abbass said the circumstances turned the film into "an act of resistance".

When the bombardment of Beirut began, "I told Danielle: 'Whatever you do, wherever you go, I'll follow you, because this film has to get made'."

- Academy's 'open-mindedness' -

Before starting on "Only Rebels Win", Abbass had just finished working on "Palestine 36" by Annemarie Jacir, a depiction of the Palestinian uprising against the British Mandate in 1936.

That film almost did not happen because of the war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliation has left at least 71,000 people dead in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, whose figures the United Nations considers reliable.

Abbass said that the "the film waited eight months so that it could be shot," with production forced to move to Jordan instead of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Abbass said that the team decided that "at a certain point, we couldn't keep being subject to" the decisions of the Israeli government.

She also welcomed the Academy's decision to include three films highlighting the Palestinian experience in its shortlist for best international feature film: "Palestine 36", Kaouther Ben Hania's "The Voice of Hind Rajab" and Cherien Dabis's "All That's Left of You".

Only Kaouther Ben Hania's film ultimately made the final list of five nominees.

But Abbass praised the "open-mindedness" of the Academy to bring these films "almost to the final stages of the Oscars" after what she termed Israel's "genocide" in Gaza.

Entertainment

Independent Spirit Awards Celebrate Indie Movies and TV in Los Angeles

Rose Byrne, Hasty Pudding 2026 Woman of the Year, takes questions from reporters during a news conference at Farkas Hall theater, on the campus of Harvard University, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP)
Rose Byrne, Hasty Pudding 2026 Woman of the Year, takes questions from reporters during a news conference at Farkas Hall theater, on the campus of Harvard University, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP)
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Independent Spirit Awards Celebrate Indie Movies and TV in Los Angeles

Rose Byrne, Hasty Pudding 2026 Woman of the Year, takes questions from reporters during a news conference at Farkas Hall theater, on the campus of Harvard University, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP)
Rose Byrne, Hasty Pudding 2026 Woman of the Year, takes questions from reporters during a news conference at Farkas Hall theater, on the campus of Harvard University, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP)

Ethan Hawke, Rose Byrne and Keke Palmer are just a few of the actors up for prizes at the Film Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles. Comedian and “Saturday Night Live” veteran Ego Nwodim is hosting the celebration of independent film and television, which will be livestreamed on YouTube starting at 5 p.m. ET.

Top nominees going into the 41st edition of the show include Ira Sachs’ “Peter Hujar’s Day,” which recreates an interview with the 1970s photographer, played by Ben Whishaw; Clint Bentley’s lyrical Denis Johnson adaptation “Train Dreams,” with Joel Edgerton; and Eva Victor’s “Sorry, Baby,” about life after an assault.

The show, which serves as a fundraiser for Film Independent’s year-round programs, is being held at the Hollywood Palladium for the first time, as its longtime beachside perch in Santa Monica undergoes renovations.

The awards sometimes overlap significantly with major Oscar contenders and winners, as it did with “Anora,” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” and sometimes not. Organizers limit eligibility to productions with budgets less than $30 million, meaning more expensive films like “One Battle After Another” are not in the running.

Byrne is one of the few actors nominated for both a Spirit Award and an Oscar, for her performance as a mother on the edge in Mary Bronstein’s “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.” In the lead performance category, she’s up against the likes of Edgerton (“Train Dreams”), Dylan O’Brien (“Twinless”), Palmer (“One of Them Days”), Tessa Thompson (“Hedda”) and Whishaw.

Supporting performance nominees include Naomi Ackie (“Sorry, Baby”), Zoey Deutch (“Nouvelle Vague”), Kirsten Dunst (“Roofman”), Nina Hoss (“Hedda”) and Archie Madekwe (“Lurker”).

Films nominated in the international category include “Sirāt,” “The Secret Agent” and “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl.” “Come See Me in the Good Light,” “My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow” and “The Perfect Neighbor” are also up for the documentary prize.

Hawke, who is nominated for an Oscar for “Blue Moon,” is up for a Spirit Award for his leading performance in the television series “The Lowdown,” where other nominees include Seth Rogen for “The Studio,” Stephen Graham for “Adolescence” and Noah Wyle for “The Pitt.”