The world domination of KPop Demon Hunters continues even into 2026. The juggernaut of 2025 pop culture just swept the Annie Awards with a 10 for 10 victory. It looks like a shoe in to win the two Academy awards, Best Animated Film and Best Original Song, it’s nominated for. So what frontiers is there left for the film to conquer? Well at some point later this year KPop Demon Hunters will enter the Criterion Collection.
As reported by Variety, KPop Demon Hunters will receive a physical media release at some point in the future from the Criterion Collection. Yes, you read that correctly. The legendary physical media company that releases “important classic and contemporary films”in high end physical media releases will add the film to their catalog. That means KPop Demon Hunters now resides in the same company as other Asian cinema classics such as Seven Samurai, In The Mood for Love, and Parasite.
KPop Demon Hunters won’t be the first animated film to join the collection or even the first Best Animated Film winner (if it wins). Dating back to their laser disc days, the collection included films like Akira. The company has slowly added more animated films in the last fifteen years as diverse as Wall-E, Flow, and Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio, all Best Animated Film winners, to their catalog.
However, this will represent a big first as director Maggie Kang will be the first female director of Korean descent to enter the collection. She joins the company of other Korean directors such as Bong Joon-ho and Lee Chang-dong. This is another example of KPop Demon Hunters blazing inroads.
Regardless it is kind of wild that KPop Demon Hunters is now considered in the same company as Ingmar Bergman, David Lynch, and Wes Anderson. No release date was announced but hopefully it’s in time for Barnes and Noble’s biannual Criterion sale. K-Comics Beat will update when there is a the release date.
