The directors of KPop Demon Hunters have explained why a live-action adaptation probably won’t be in the works any time soon.
Speaking to CBR, KPop Demon Hunters directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans responded to the question of potentially seeing the film receive a live-action follow-up, with Kang noting that “I think it will be so much more challenging to make [KPop Demon Hunters] live-action. I think it would be hard.”
“You said it well in terms of animation and what’s hard about it, which is [that] it’s not just about recreating real life, it’s about a kind of distillation of it,” Appelhans added. “You’re trying to push everything — if it’s a shape, you push the shape, if it’s an idea, you push the idea, if it’s a joke…that does create a certain framework that works really well with this tone. So yeah, I don’t know. It would be hard.” Kang added, “I think it would be more difficult, and this was hard. This was very hard. So I can’t even think about something harder than this.”
Directed by Kang and Appelhans from a screenplay co-written alongside Danya Jimenez and Hannah McMechan, KPop Demon Hunters premiered on Netflix on June 20 and immediately cemented its place as the latest breakout hit animated feature film. KPop Demon Hunters follows Rumi (voiced by Arden Cho), Mira (voiced by May Hong) and Zoey (voiced by Ji-young Yoo) — three best friends who also happen to be world-famous KPop idols performing under the name Huntr/x, all while hunting literal demons whenever the need arises. When a rival boy band known as the Saja Boys led by Jinu (voiced by Ahn Hyo-seop) hits the scene, it creates not just a professional problem for Huntr/x, but a personal one as well due to the Saja Boys’ demonic nature and infernal intent.
The Future of KPop Demon Hunters Is Almost Certain Thanks to Its Overwhelming Success
Rumi, Mira and Zoey talk about “Golden” on a talkshow in KPop Demon Hunters.Image via Netflix
Upon its release, KPop Demon Hunters was lauded by critics and audiences alike, earning the film a 95% “Tomatometer” score via review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, as well as a 99% “Popcornmeter” score, as averaged across more than 250 verified user-submitted ratings. Even more impressive is the fact that, within just a few months, KPop Demon Hunters had more than cemented its place as the most-watched Netflix movie of all time. Between all of that and the fact that original songs from the film continue charting the Billboard 200 for upwards of seven weeks straight, the future of KPop Demon Hunters is all but assured, with Netflix reportedly eyeing multiple potential spinoffs, sequels and other pieces of tie-in media.
KPop Demon Hunters is currently available for streaming exclusively on Netflix.