KPOP DEMON HUNTERS Creator Says No to Live-Action Adaptation: “It Would Feel Too Grounded”
KPop Demon Hunters has taken the world by storm, dominating Netflix and pop charts alike, but don’t ever expect to see a live-action version. Creator and co-director Maggie Kang made it clear in a recent interview with the BBC that she has no plans, or desire, to see her record-breaking animated hit turned into a live-action movie.
“There’s so many elements of the tone and the comedy that are so suited for animation,” Kang told the outlet. “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.”
Kang’s co-director Chris Appelhans also agrees that KPop Demon Hunters belongs right where it is, in animation. “One of the great things about animation is that you make these composites of impossibly great attributes,” Appelhans explained.
“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.”
He went on to say, “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, which debuted on Netflix in late June, has become a cultural phenomenon. KPop Demon Hunters is now the streamer’s most-watched movie in history. Its infectious soundtrack broke records, becoming the first album ever to land four songs in the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10 simultaneously.
The lead single “Golden” has held onto the No. 1 spot for eight consecutive weeks, and a sing-along theatrical release pulled in $18 million in one weekend.
Kang, who both co-wrote and co-directed the movie, built the story around Huntr/x, a chart-topping K-pop girl group with a secret… they’re also demon hunters. Their main rivals, the Saja Boys, may look like another slick boy band, but they’re demons themselves.
The movie balances high-energy musical performances, supernatural battles, and heartfelt moments with the kind of stylized flair that thrives in animation.
While the idea of a live-action adaptation might be tempting for studios, both Kang and Appelhans clearly see KPop Demon Hunters as something uniquely suited to the animated format, with a mix of over-the-top energy, surreal visuals, and stylized emotion that just wouldn’t translate the same way with real actors.
Netflix and Sony are already in talks to develop a sequel, which Kang has been eager to explore. She’s especially interested in expanding beyond the story of Rumi, the lead vocalist of Huntr/x, to dive deeper into the backstories of her fellow bandmates, Zoey and Mira.
“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,” Kang said.
“This was Rumi’s story, and we have backstories for Zoey and Mira – ones that we actually put in the movie, but it just kind of rejected it. It just wasn’t the movie for those stories.”
If KPop Demon Hunters continues its unstoppable run, a sequel feels inevitable. As for their thoughts on a live-action adaptation, I totally agree that this story and these characters are perfectly suited for animation and live-action would take away all the charm.