‘Kpop Demon Hunters’ bosses’ defend their decision not to release it in theaters: “It had to be on Netflix”
Kristine Belson and Damien de Foberville, presidents of Sony Pictures Animation, are convinced that streaming is the best option for the film.
‘Kpop Demon Hunters’ has become the new international mass phenomenon, and its success did not come from movie theaters, but from streaming. A few months after its release on Netflix, the film starring HUNTR/X surpassed ‘Red Alert’ and became the most-watched feature film in the platform’s history. Now, the presidents of Sony Pictures Animation reflect on this milestone and reaffirm that much of its success was due to a key decision.
As Kristine Belson and Damien de Foberville explained to The Hollywood Reporter, they always believed that ‘Kpop Demon Hunters’ should be released exclusively on Netflix, skipping a possible theatrical release. “It had to be on Netflix. It was the perfect storm of that movie coming together with the power of that platform. You have these check-ins: three days, 10 days, 28 days...” explained Belson. According to them, the success of Kpop Demon Hunters did not become apparent until more than two weeks after its release. “We got a call from Hannah Minghella on day 14 or something. ‘Something is going on here.’ So, it needed time, which you don’t get theatrically.”
‘Kpop Demon Hunters 2’ is already in development, but it won’t be released anytime soon
In light of such success, Sony Pictures Animation is already preparing a sequel to ‘Kpop Demon Hunters.’ However, both presidents made it clear that it won’t be released until at least 2029. These types of productions take many years to complete, so it will also be quite some time before details about the plot or characters are shared. The only thing Belson and De Foberville hinted at was that Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans would once again be in charge of the script for the next installment.
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