KPop Demon Hunters wasn’t only the movie of the summer, it could easily become the movie of the year! Now that autumn is here, and it’s about to be all over Halloween parties it has returned to the most-watched movies for those with a Netflix subscription. Certainly it’s only a matter of time before some sort of followup officially gets underway, but what about a live-action remake?
KPop Demon Hunter Directors Break Silence On Live-Action Movie Rumors
Live-action remakes are obviously all the rage, especially for Walt Disney Studios, but Universal also recently followed suit with a How To Train Your Dragon reimagining with human actors. When KPop Demon Hunters’ creator and director Maggie Kang was asked about rumors of a live-action version of her movie being on the way, here’s what she told BBC:
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.
Back in July, TheWrap reported that Netflix was thinking about making KPop Demon Hunters into an animated trilogy along with producing a live-action remake and a stage musical after it became such a big hit on streaming. But according to Kang (who penned the story, along with co-directing it with Chris Appelhans), said the rumors are not true, and she’s not on board with the movie jumping into live action. Appelhans echoed her sentiment, saying this:
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.
Netflix in particular has opted to bring big anime properties into live action as of late, from Avatar: The Last Airbender to One Piece. If it’s completely up to the KPop Demon Hunters’ directors, they would not like to see it in live action due to the “stilted” ways storytelling can translate from the animated medium to live action.
And, They Make A Solid Point About Live-Action Remakes
From KPop Demon Hunters’ becoming the No. 1 original on Netflix of all time, to its box office success and its soundtrack breaking records on the music charts, it wouldn’t be surprising if Netflix chose to capitalize on its success. Plus last week on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, the voices behind HUNTR/X songs went viral for playing “Golden” live. Which you can watch below…
From a business point of view, a live-action movie makes a lot of sense. But the directors bring up a good point about how the story might not work the same way from a creative standpoint because real versions of the characters would have to be both grounded and be the animatedly comical characters we love at once, and that’s just not easy to accomplish. I totally agree with the directors after hearing their take, and I’m hoping what’s next for KPop Demon Hunters is a followup they love as much as the original.
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