KPDH vs Encanto: Why Streaming Wars are Not The Same as Franchise Wars
One of my favorite Substack’s, Entertainment Strategy Guy, ran the US Nielsen numbers on KPop Demon Hunters in a recent un-paywalled post which I’m sharing below as a bonus for everyone on this week’s newsletter. Thanks for taking that off my plate, ESG!
A few takeaways stood out. The big one, KPDH did not topple Encanto as the biggest movie premiere ever on US streaming. To my mind, there are three pretty obvious reasons for that.
1. The Disney of it all
Disney owns the animated feature heartland, especially original musical movies. Walt Disney Animation Studios is the engine behind that expectation. Audiences are conditioned to look to Disney for big, glossy, emotionally driven musical storytelling.
Disney+ digitized that behaviour. It replaced the DVD player with an app. When families sit down for a splashy animated musical, Disney+ is the default destination. Netflix might be strong in other lanes, but this specific wheelhouse still undeniably belongs to Disney and I don’t think I need to roll out charts to make that case.
2. Marketing
Walt Disney Animation Studios had Encanto lined up as a major theatrical event before COVID hit. By the time it released in December 2021, we were heading into a second lockdown Christmas. Emotionally, the global population was battered and bruised, but strategically, studios had nearly two years of pandemic playbook in the tank.
Disney took a smart, confident swing. A short 30-day theatrical window, before Encanto dropped on Disney+ on Christmas Eve. It was signaled as a genuine holiday gift for families stuck at home, with proper marketing baked in.
3. COVID
That second lockdown Christmas was brutal, triggering extensive stay-at-home orders in many countries. Audiences were stuck at home, in winter, with very little to do. Encanto hit at exactly the right moment. Lin Manuel Miranda’s soundtrack exploded. Remixed to the nines on global FYPs. The conditions couldn’t have been more primed for repeat viewing.
KPop Demon Hunters landed in a very different context. A summer release. Kids were more available, which helped word of mouth, but they were also out of the house. Camps, holidays, travel, other entertainment options. Plus they had the freedom to watch together. The intensity of individual rewatching was never going to match a locked-down winter Christmas.
Does this mean Encanto beats KPop Demon Hunters in the rock-paper-scissors of franchise domination? If US launch engagement is rock, there is no question that KPDH wins on paper and scissors.
Encanto was a lovely movie, and an IP with further event potential for Disney. But the franchiseability of KPDH is next level. The music is more commercial. The setting is more aspirational. The themes skew older and travel further. The visuals are cleaner, bolder, and far more merchandisable and toyetic. It’s not surprising that this has been described as Netflix’s Frozen moment. Elsa and Rumi are in a different league to Mirabel when it comes to cultural cut-through. That is why a sequel and multi-year activation are already in motion for KPDH and the next installment of Encanto is still a rumor five years later.
And now over to Entertainment Strategy Guy with the receipts, make sure to read to the end, his sign off is particularly on point. I’ll be back looking at US Streaming next week as the data just landed for US Nielsen 2025…
The truth is that KPDH wasn’t an immediate hit. Netflix had no idea it was going to be as big as it was. It has an ok launch, but blew up after a few weeks. It caught them by surprise which is why there was a serious lack of consumer products in market. Retailers, licensees, even Netflix themselves didn’t think it was going be a huge hit.