Monster Smash

KPop Demon Hunters' directors reveal what's next for Netflix's chart-topping film

- by SOO KIM

SPOTLIGHT Appelhans (center) and Kang (far right) are joined by the KPop Demon Hunters cast at a special screening in L.A. in June.

KPOP DEMON HUNTERS, NETFLIX'S SMASH-HIT animation film, has taken the world by storm since its release in summer. With no signs of slowing down, its makers are "excited to explore what's next" for the budding franchise, Chris Appelhans, one of the film’s directors, told Newsweek.

Released in June, KPop Demon Hunters, which is produced by Sony Pictures Animation, has become Netflix’s most-watched animated film and its most popular movie of all time. In addition, its original soundtrack swept up the top rankings across various charts on Billboard, Spotify and others worldwide.

If that wasn’t enough, the film’s star-studded cast includes Squid Game star Lee Byung-hun and Ahn Hyo-seop from a string of K-dramas including Business Proposal. There is also Ken Jeong from The Hangover movie series, and Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim known from the 2004 American television series Lost.

The film, co-directed with Maggie Kang, follows a fictional K-pop girl band called HUNTR/X; their other mission in life, when not selling out arenas, is to hunt down and chase away any demons who try to take human souls away from the Earth.

They soon meet a new rival group called the Saja Boys—demons disguised as a boy band looking to catch human souls. The film sees the two bands battle it out, both on and off stage, for the lives of their fans.

As niche as that plot may sound, its story is rooted in Korean tradition, with many shamans in Korea, who tend to be women, performing various rituals to chase demons away from a household or home. The captivating film is full of blink-and-you'll-miss-it references to various aspects of Korean culture, both old and new, but at its heart is, of course, the music.