“I think about this whole movie and the expectations for it were so low. It’s the fans… the people who found the music early on and spread the word. That’s why any of these awards are happening,” he says. “That’s why we are where we are. It’s been cool to go from low expectation to, wow, this amazing surreal surprise.”<\/p>\n
Recalling the writing process, Sonnenblick says “Golden” was the last of the batch \u2014 and there were four to five other contenders for that particular scene in the film. At the time, he hopped on a call with his co-writer EJAE \u2014 and he got a feeling it would be something special.<\/p>\n
![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/3436a6d54b40bb75580f33e5579d880e.jpeg\"\/)
Mark Sonnenblick and EJAE at the 2026 Grammys in Los Angeles <\/p>\n
Leon Bennett\/Getty<\/p>\n
“She played a lot of melodies for me, including the iconic one, ‘No more hidin’, I’ll be shinin.’ And I think we both were just like, ‘This is gonna be something really special.’ It was still weeks and months before we had the finished version, but kind of right away, we were just really excited to feel like we were finding something that would work for the movie.”<\/p>\n
For Sonnenblick, songwriting is just as technical as it is an artistic craft \u2014 and with “Golden,” he wanted to emulate Rumi (who is voiced by Arden Cho) yearning for something that was out of reach.<\/p>\n
“Those goosebumps immediately happened with this,” he said. “You’re searching for this feeling and at the same time it’s such an intellectual, technical craft too. The balance between the two is part of the magic of songwriting.”<\/p>\n
“This is the false victory song,” he continues. “It sounds like it’s gonna be the declaration of success, but if that were true, the movie would be over 20 minutes in.”<\/p>\n
When asked if there’s any rhyme or reason to writing a hit song, Sonnenblick says his North Star is problem solving, writing from the heart and staying true to the collaboration.<\/p>\n
If he could go back in time to the early days of his craft, Sonnenblick \u2014 who’s a musical theatre trained songwriter\u00a0\u2014 says he would tell him to keep finding ways to “believe in yourself \u2014 even when a lot things are telling you not to.”<\/p>\n
He would also push himself to go outside of his comfort zone and collaborate more \u2014 which is ultimately what led him to KPop Demon Hunters.<\/p>\n
![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/d459a189ce22e649aede0930392c8671.jpeg\"\/)
Mark Sonnenblick <\/p>\n
Matt Crockett<\/p>\n
“It’s taken me time, through my 20s, to start to realize what collaboration could look like and to see, not only on this project, but other ones I’ve been lucky to work on the past few years, the power of what it is when a little community comes together, not only of songwriters, but of so many brilliant artists on a movie or a piece of theater,” he says.<\/p>\n
Sonnenblick adds, “I don’t come from K-pop and it’s been amazing to be able to collaborate with people from that world to try to bring this vision to life. I’m just very grateful and lucky to be here.”<\/p>\n
KPop Demon Hunters was released in June 2025 it was named the most-streamed movie of 2025. In an interview with BBC News<\/a> earlier this month, Sonnenblick confirmed a sequel was “in process.”<\/p>\n Up next, however, Sonnenblick looks forward to the debut of his new musical, Midnight at The Never Get<\/a>, at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory. Opening night is on July 20 and it will run through Sept. 12, 2026.<\/p>\n Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n