NEED TO KNOW
- KPop Demon Hunters co-directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans weighed in on the possibility of a live-action version of the animated hit
- Kang told the BBC it’s “hard to imagine these characters in a live-action world” and that such an adaptation “wouldn’t work”
- Appelhans said past anime projects given the live-action treatment are often “stilted”
As KPop Demon Hunters continues its pop culture dominance, an obvious question arises: What’s next?
According to creator Maggie Kang, nothing following the live-action remake trend. “There’s so many elements of the tone and the comedy that are so suited for animation,” the Korean-Canadian co-writer and co-director told the BBC in a recent interview. “It’s really hard to imagine these characters in a live-action world.”
Real-life actors playing anime-inspired Huntr/x members Rumi, Mira and Zoey “would feel too grounded,” added Kang. “So totally it wouldn’t work for me.”
KPop Demon Hunters has made history as Netflix’s most-watched title of all time as of Aug. 26. Produced by Sony Pictures Animation and distributed by the streamer, it has generated buzz all the way to several No.-1 chart hits, a Saturday Night Live homage and a limited theatrical release of a singalong version.
(Left-right:) Kevin Woo, Ken Jeong, Ji-Young Yoo, Chirs Appelhans, Arden Cho, May Hong, Michelle Wong and Maggie Kang at a ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ screening on June 16.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty
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Chris Appelhans, Kang’s co-director, agreed about the unlikelihood of a live-action version. “One of the great things about animation is that you make these composites of impossibly great attributes,” said the illustrator-filmmaker. “Rumi can be this goofy comedian and then singing and doing a spinning back-kick a second later and then free-falling through the sky.”
Appelhans also mentioned past attempts to give hit anime projects a live-action lens, saying, “often times, it just feels a little stilted.” Animation, on the other hand, is about “how far you can push and elevate what’s possible.”
Talk of more animated KPop Demon Hunters has been circulating, with Kang telling Variety in July that she’d love to pursue a sequel.
“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.”
‘KPop Demon Hunters’.
Netflix
At the Busan International Film Festival in September, Kang said she’s received “no official word” on a sequel to the hit, per Entertainment Weekly. But the KPop Demon Hunters team remains “excited for the possibilities of more stories.”
KPop Demon Hunters is now streaming on Netflix.
