Now that KPop Demon Hunters has officially achieved golden status as Netflix’s most-watched film of all time, it seems a Huntr/x comeback is on the cards. The animated darling notched more than 236 million total views to surpass 2021’s Red Notice, starring Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), Dwayne Johnson (Black Adam), and Ryan Reynolds (the Deadpool films), which stands at 230.9 million views.
In light of the latest milestone, Sony Pictures Animation and Netflix are in early talks for a sequel, with the news coming a few days after the sing-along release of the film dominated the U.S box office over the penultimate August weekend. It took down Warner Bros.’ horror pic Weapons and Disney’s Freakier Friday with an estimated US$18 million opening, landing Netflix its first-ever theatrical win.
The chart-topping performance is a natural progression for a movie that has consistently defied expectations, even in the musical aspect. Four of its original soundtracks, “Golden”, “Your Idol”, “Soda Pop”, and “How It’s Done” entered the Billboard Top 10 simultaneously, marking a first in the history of the Hot 100. Previously, “Golden”, whose music is voiced by EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI, also made history as the first girl group (with three or more members) to top the Hot 100 since Destiny’s Child in 2001.
Directed by Maggie Kang, head of story for The Lego Ninjago Movie, and Chris Appelhans, KPop Demon Hunters centres on a fictional K-pop girl group, HUNTR/X (pronounced ‘Huntrix’), who lead double lives as demon hunters, and face off against a rival boy band called Saja Boys, whose members are secretly demons. Arden Cho (Teen Wolf), May Hong (High Maintenance), and Ji-young Yoo (Moxie) voice the lead trio of Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, respectively.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Sony insiders have indicated that a deal isn’t on the table just yet, as the main priority is to iron out the pact between Netflix and Sony, where the project can only work out if both parties are in the picture. While it remains to be seen how the sequel will continue the story of Huntri/x, Kang has expressed interest in fleshing out the backgrounds of Mira and Zoey.
“We’ve set up so much for potential backstory. 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,” the filmmaker said in an interview with Variety. “This was Rumi’s story, and we have backstories for Zoey and Mira – ones that we actually put in the movie, but it just kind of rejected it. It just wasn’t the movie for those stories.”
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
