Fans have been tuning in to Kpop Demon Hunters in their millions with the musical, urban-fantasy film becoming Netflix’s most-streamed movie in history, racking up an astonishing 236 million views since it landed in June. The record was previously held by spy thriller Red Notice, which starred the likes of Gal Gadot, Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. It should therefore be no surprise that sequel talks for Kpop Demon Hunters are already underway and there’s talks that the film could be the starting point of an entire franchise.
In a report from Deadline it was confirmed that the discussions had already started, although Netflix declined to comment on the publication’s story. No details about the likely sequel have been confirmed but it’s expected that co-director Maggie Kang, who also came up with the idea for the film, would return for a second outing.
Even before news of a sequel were reported, Maggie had hinted at a possible follow-up to her global smash. “We’ve set up so much for potential backstory,” she told Variety. “Obviously, there’s a lot of questions that are left unanswered and areas that are not explored, and we had to do that because there’s only so much movie you could tell in 85 minutes. This was Rumi’s story, and we have backstories for Zoey and Mira.”
However, the creation of a sequel for the hit film isn’t smooth sailing. The film came about as a deal between Sony and Netflix and so although Sony was involved in producing the movie, it was sold to Netflix for distribution. This means that despite the film’s runaway success, Sony only made $20 million profit from the film. You can imagine they’ll be hoping for a bigger slice of the pie this time around…
What is Kpop Demon Hunters?
The film follows K-pop stars Rumi, Mira and Zoey, a trio who are not only selling out concert tours, but are also demon hunters. Long before the movie was set, demons regularly harvested human souls in order to feed their master, Gwi-Ma. Three women eventually locked away Gwi-ma and attempted to banish demons from the planet permanently with their efforts stretching for generations. Standing in their way, is a five-part Korean band, named the Saja Boys, who are secretly demons in disguise.
A synopsis for the film reads: “When they aren’t selling out stadiums, Kpop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey use their secret identities as badass demon hunters to protect their fans from an ever-present supernatural threat. Together, they must face their biggest enemy yet — an irresistible rival boy band of demons in disguise.”
Kpop Demon Hunters leans into director Maggie Kang’s own Korean heritage and stars Arden Cho (Teen Wolf), May Hong (Tales of the City) and Ji-young Yoo (Moxie) as the main trio. Arden only signed onto the project because it was an animation, explaining: “This one was for me, this is for Baby Arden, who grew up feeling like I didn’t see myself in a lot of these stories, and K-Pop Demon Hunter is really the movie that I always hoped for, dreamed for.
© NETFLIX“And again, to be able to have a part in it is just such an incredible honour. And I’m so grateful people are seeing it and loving it. I will say that probably the biggest change in the last two months is that I have had this newfound, immense wave of energy. And this new feeling of maybe it’s not too late. No, it’s never too late. Maybe now is the time.”
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