Tag: KPop Demon Hunters

Watching KPop Demon Hunters at home on Netflix is always an option. But if you missed out on the record-breaking animated musical’s limited (and lucrative) recent theatrical run, sing it from the rooftops: Huntr/x is coming back to the big screen.

As Deadline reports, AMC Theatres will be part of the frenzy this time around after sitting out that last cinematic engagement in late August. From October 31 to November 2, you can catch KPop Demon Hunters at AMC as well as Regal, Cinemark, and other chains in the U.S., UK, Ireland, Korea, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Australia, and New Zealand.

The timing means that you won’t need to put your Rumi Halloween costume and wig away so soon after the holiday; you can just rock it to the theater with all your purple-haired best friends. Though the trade doesn’t note if this is a regular KPop Demon Hunters screening or a designated “sing-along,” expect to be surrounded by fans belting out the tunes, which have not only scored high on the Billboard charts but also seem likely to pave the way for the movie’s upcoming awards-season push.

While Deadline optimistically notes “a sequel is currently in the works,” there’s been no official confirmation of that from Netflix as of yet. You have to assume, though, that the extraordinary success KPop Demon Hunters has enjoyed—it hit the streamer in June, and the excitement feels like it’s only getting stronger nearly six months later—means we’ll be seeing new adventures (and new songs) from its heroes and villains eventually.

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The success of KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the stories of the summer. Sure, Lilo & Stitch was the highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office. Yes, Superman did well enough to launch the DC Universe. And of course, it was awesome to see an original genre film like Weapons clean up. But above all that, it’s the animated musical that became not only Netflix’s biggest movie ever but also a box office hit in a single weekend that history will look back on with most interest.

Especially since Sony sold the movie to Netflix.

It’s been well-documented, but in 2021, Sony and Netflix struck a deal where Sony sold Netflix a bunch of different projects that included KPop Demon Hunters. So, Netflix owned the rights, paid for it to be finished, and then added it to its service. Very quickly after the film’s June debut, its success and appeal became incredibly obvious. And, this week, the CEO of Sony Pictures, Ravi Ahuja, reflected back on kind of letting a massive hit out of the studio’s grasp.

“Obviously, in hindsight, it’s such a big hit,” Ahuja said at a conference reported on by the Wrap. “It was during the pandemic. It’s K-Pop-themed, very specific film. Netflix paid the whole cost, plus a profit premium. At the time, it made sense. But now you look at the success and think maybe it could have been theatrical.”

But would it have been as big a hit in theaters without its streaming lead-up? We’ve written about this, and Ahuja isn’t so sure. “It started out on Netflix, and word of mouth made it grow. In theatrical that is a lot harder to do,” Ahuja said. “I think it was in the right home. I think KPop Demon Hunters’ right home was Netflix, but it is an interesting question, could it have been theatrical? It is hard to say. It’s possible but I don’t think it’s so obvious.”

What’s even less obvious now is how the companies will deal with the fallout: the success of the soundtrack, inevitable sequels, spinoffs, and live-action remakes. All of it is in the works, and both Sony and Netflix will be involved in some way.

KPop Demon Hunters is streaming on Netflix, as if you didn’t know.

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The biggest earworm from KPop Demon Hunters, “Golden,” has helped propel the hit Netflix and Sony animated feature to success atop both the streaming and music charts. And now we know a bit more about the lore behind the Huntr/x track.

Songwriter and singing voice of Rumi, one of the film’s lead demon hunters, EJAE talked about the film’s breakout song with Variety.

“One of the biggest assets I brought to the movie, or when writing the songs, was being bilingual,” she shared about bringing cultural authenticity to the film’s music to help reflect the filmmaker’s vision. “It was important for our co-director, Maggie Kang, to have Korean in the lyrics, and I just love that it’s not just the verses; it was in the actual song too.”

EJAE elaborated that the mandate from the filmmakers to the music team came down to having the word “gold” in the leading Huntr/x track. “It needed to have the word gold in it and the feeling of what Rumi was going through.”

It also needed to introduce the struggles of Rumi’s bandmates that they faced as a team: “It needed a pep talk and the idea that we can do this together.”

As the band’s lead figure, Rumi was someone EJAE related to when she was coming up as a K-Pop trainee. “She’s incredibly hardworking and has that leadership. She puts her best foot forward, but she tries to hide her imperfections and flaws.”

Her had work followed her to the most random of places for inspiration: “I actually wrote the melody on my way to the dentist.”

KPop Demon Hunters is now streaming on Netflix.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.