Once you watch KPop Demon Hunters, it’s simple to see why it has turn out to be the most well-liked film that Netflix has ever launched. The animated musical’s story a couple of trio of pop stars tasked with defending humanity from monsters is acquainted, however refreshingly totally different and infinitely extra fashionable than different narratives prefer it. The soundtrack is stuffed with plain bangers that amplify the film’s attractive motion and by no means allow you to overlook that it’s a celebration of Korean tradition. KPop Demon Hunters additionally unabashedly facilities girls in a method that you just seldom see in style options from main studios like Sony, which produced the venture.
However the truth that KPop Demon Hunters feels prefer it got here out of nowhere is one other essential a part of its meteoric success. And as Netflix units out to show the Huntr/x ladies into franchise stars with a sequel, the streamer wants a considerate technique if it needs to conjure up this sort of film magic once more.
Netflix wouldn’t be in such an enviable place proper now if it had not entered an agreement with Sony back in 2021 giving it the unique US streaming rights to Sony Photos Leisure’s (SPE) big-screen options following their theatrical runs and residential leisure releases. As a part of the deal Sony might nonetheless promote direct-to-streaming films to different platforms. However Sony additionally agreed to give Netflix first-look rights to any of the movies it supposed to make or license for streaming. This meant that Netflix, which might co-develop and launch these Sony initiatives, might name dibs on something within the SPE pipeline earlier than its rivals had an opportunity to make gives. KPop Demon Hunters, which was first announced just a month earlier than Netflix and Sony’s deal turned official, was one of many films the streamer wished for itself.
Sony might have saved the film for itself by giving it a conventional theatrical launch, which might have put the studio ready to gather no matter field workplace totals KPop Demon Hunters made the quaint method. However as Matt Belloni at Puck factors out, 2021 was a really totally different time for the leisure business. Film theaters have been nonetheless closed because of the covid-19 pandemic, and Sony wanted a option to earn money with out counting on ticket gross sales. The deal gave Sony a option to preserve placing films out and reduce pandemic-related layoffs. And in trade for footing all $100 million of KPop Demon Hunters’ production costs and paying Sony an additional $25 million charge, Netflix obtained to maintain the movie’s most worthwhile rights, together with merchandising.
It’s humorous to consider Sony execs shouting up on the sky and kicking themselves as Netflix soaks up all of the adulation for producing certainly one of this yr’s greatest options. However the fact is, there actually was no method of figuring out simply how a lot of successful KPop Demon Hunters would in the end turn out to be. Each studio desperately needs to place out hits and be seen as having a deep understanding of what will get folks flocking to theaters. However figuring out hits within the making is an imprecise science that’s sophisticated by audiences’ fickle tastes, timing, and numerous different components.
What’s pretty clear about KPop Demon Hunters’ rising star is that its success was not rapid. It took time for the film to actually start gaining traction on Netflix. A large advertising and marketing push from Sony may need catapulted it to the highest of the field workplace if issues had gone that route. However KPop Demon Hunters seems like the proper instance of a film benefiting from this present second of popular culture consumption the place many individuals satisfaction themselves on discovering issues that they unexpectedly love, after which dashing to inform as many individuals as they will about mentioned issues.
The “shock” of all of it seems like an essential a part of how KPop Demon Hunters turned KPop Demon Hunters as we at the moment comprehend it, and that sort of vitality is difficult to duplicate. For one, extra folks know this property now. The songs, merch, and fan artwork are in every single place you look, which speaks to the truth that the film’s viewership on Netflix has persistently grown because it began streaming in June. It’s in all probability going to be a superb lengthy whereas earlier than the film’s hype calms a bit, however when (if?) it will definitely does, Netflix will want a stable plan to get the Huntr/x fan base reactivated for a sequel.
However the important thing takeaway from Frozen (2013) and Frozen 2 (2019) would possibly simply be that Netflix doesn’t have to rush the following chapter of KPop Demon Hunters’ story. Even after a six-year wait, the Frozen sequel went on to turn out to be the most profitable animated film of all time (an honor that now belongs to Ne Zha 2). And Netflix might obtain one thing related if it performs its playing cards proper.