Update: KPop Demon Hunters has won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film at the 98th Academy Awards. The victory matches Kalshi’s market forecast heading into the ceremony, where traders priced the Netflix hit as a dominant favorite with a 94% chance of winning. The film beat out competitors including Zootopia 2 and Little Amélie or the Character of Rain to take home the Oscar Sunday night.
Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters isn’t just slaying with audiences around the world. It’s also slaying the competition on Kalshi’s Best Animated Film market.
Oscar Odds: Best Animated Film
Traders price the film’s odds of winning the category at tonight’s 98th Academy Awards at a whopping 94%. Disney’s Zootopia 2 is priced second at 6%, followed by the independent animated film Little Amélie or the Character of Rain at 2%.
So while the possibility of another film winning the category is real, it would be considered a huge upset.
What the critics said
KPop Demon Hunters earned a 92% approval rating among movie critics on Rotten Tomatoes. The Times’ chief film critic Kevin Maher gave the movie four out of five stars, praising its story, direction, music, and ability to deal with deep topics in a “giddy, glowing, and eventually roaring release.”
Empire Magazine’s Kelechi Ehenulo also gave KPop Demon Hunters four out of five stars and praised its ability to reach audiences of all ages with “the joyous energy and fun it has with the concept.” He went on to praise the film’s music as its “crowning glory.”
Best Animated Short Film
The competition is a little closer among the nominees in the Best Animated Short Film Oscar market. Florence Miailhe and Ron Dyens’ Butterfly leads the pack at 51%. Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski’s The Girl Who Cried Pearls follows Butterfly at 27%, while John Kelly and Andrew Freedman’s Retirement Plan trails at 15%.
The takeaway: Best Animated Film
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