Maggie Kang, the creator of Netflix smash sensation “KPop Demon Hunters,” says the record-breaking Netflix animated movie should not get a live-action remake.
Kang created the story and both co-wrote and co-directed the movie about a popular K-pop girl group named Huntr/x, the three members of which are also secret demon warriors. The women battle a rival boy band, the Saja Boys, who are secretly demons.
The film premiered in late June and has turned into a cultural phenomenon as Netflix’s most-watched movie in history, while the soundtrack topped the Billboard charts and broke a record with four songs in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100
Speaking with The BBC, Kang says:
“There’s so many elements of the tone and the comedy that are so suited for animation. It’s really hard to imagine these characters in a live-action world. It would feel too grounded. So totally it wouldn’t work for me.”
Chris Appelhans, who co-directed the film with Kang, agrees:
“One of the great things about animation is that you make these composites of impossibly great attributes. 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. The joy of animation is how far you can push and elevate what’s possible. I remember they adapted a lot of different anime [into live action] and often times, it just feels a little stilted.”
The film’s lead single “Golden” has spent eight weeks and counting in the No. 1 spot, while a briefly released sing-along version grossed $18 million in just one weekend.
Talks are underway to make a sequel, and Kang has expressed interest in an animated follow-up.
