“KPop Demon Hunters,” directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, continues to break multiple records in both the film and music industries. Released this summer, the Netflix movie has soared to the top of the Billboard chart and the Netflix popularity chart.
The movie centers around the fictional K-pop girl group HUNTR/X trying to defend the world against evil demons by using their singing and connecting with fans, but face competition from their K-pop boy group rival, the “Saja Boys.”
The leader of the group, Rumi, is voiced by Kim Eun-Jae for the singing scenes. Kim co-wrote the popular song “Golden” and told the story on CBC News about how she got the role. “The directors were so kind enough to ask me to sing,” Kim said. “I think they got used to my voice ‘cause I sang literally all the demos, including the boy band song.” Even though the movie is now owned by Netflix, the credit for its production goes to Sony Animation Pictures, which sold most of the rights to Netflix.
In an interview with Variety, Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Ravi Ahuja spoke about whether he regrets selling most of the rights. Ahuja said, “The goal of the deal was to make hits. One great thing about being an independent is we’re happy when our clients do well. So, they did well, right?”
One of the many records the movie broke was for the most-watched movie on Netflix of all time. The movie beat “Red Notice” in late August for the record, surpassing its 230.9 million views. It has been in the top 10 in 92 countries and is currently number one in 19 countries on Netflix.
The movie has made history in the music industry for their song “Golden.” It is the first-ever K-pop girl group with a number one song on the Billboard Hot Top 100. The song by HUNTR/X has been number one on the chart for four consecutive weeks, and this is the first time a girl group has had the number one spot on Billboard since Destiny’s Child in 2001.
The antagonist group “Saja Boys” has also seen success on the Spotify charts. Before “Golden” reached number one, the Saja Boys’ song, “Your Idol,” was on the U.S. top 50. The Korea Economic Daily reported that the song is the highest a K-pop boy band has been on the chart, beating “Dynamite” by BTS, which reached number three.
The movie will be in the running for the Oscar Awards next year. To be nominated for the Oscars, a film needs to fulfill certain criteria, such as playing in cinemas. Despite premiering on Netflix, the movie was also released at three different locations to meet the Oscar’s requirements. According to Variety, there are talks to make a sequel following the massive success of the movie. Kang spoke with Variety and already has ideas for what a potential sequel would look like. “We’ve set up so much for potential backstory.” Kang said. “This was Rumi’s story, and we have backstories for Zoey and Mira.”
