It’s HUNTRI/X (pronounced ‘Huntrix’) girls to the world again, as a new KPop Demon Hunters short film has been rated for release. According to a listing by the Motion Picture Association, a feature titled Debut: A KPop Demon Hunters Story is set to continue the adventures of Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, receiving a PG rating for “some action/violence and scary images.”
The upcoming outing joins A24’s Ne Zha 2 in the family-friendly category, with Dead of Winter (Vertical Entertainment), Mother Mary (A24), and The Perfect Gamble (Saban Films) earning an R rating. No other details about the project, including a release date, runtime, and story specifics, were shared, but director Maggie Kang previously expressed interest in fleshing out the backgrounds of Zoey and Mira.
“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 to 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.”
This comes after the animated darling became Netflix’s most-watched film of all time, kicking off early talks for a sequel between the streamer and Sony Animation Pictures. A special sing-along version of the movie toppled Warner Bros.’ horror pic Weapons over the penultimate August weekend, landing Netflix its first-ever theatrical win.
Chris Appelhans helmed KPop Demon Hunters alongside Kang, chronicling the double lives of HUNTR/X as demon hunters and girl group members, and their takedown (hah) of 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 Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, respectively.
The momentum has carried over to the music charts, with four of its original soundtracks “Golden”, “Your Idol”, “Soda Pop”, and “How It’s Done”, entering the Billboard Top 10 simultaneously — a first in Hot 100 history. “Golden”, whose music is voiced by EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI, also broke records with a fifth week at No.1.
“When they aren’t selling out stadiums, K-pop 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,” reads the official description on Rotten Tomatoes, in which it boasts a 95 per cent critic score and 99 per cent audience score.
Debut: A KPop Demon Hunters Story currently has no release date.
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
