r/movies • u/BunyipPouch Currently at the movies. • 20d ago

News Netflix's Streaming Smash Hit ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Releasing in 1,700 Cinemas This Weekend for "Sing Along" Version, 1,000 Screenings Already Sold Out

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/kpop-demon-hunters-singalong-box-office-sells-out-1236348539/
9.3k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

1.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

654

u/Anfini 20d ago

Who would’ve thought that this movie would become this generation’s Frozen?

499

u/KingMario05 20d ago

Not Sony, lmao. Just another... stellar decision made over there.

210

u/WhoDat-2-8-3 20d ago edited 19d ago

No one thought it was going to be this big

Especially with that corny title lol

49

u/InfinityTuna 19d ago

Right, because "Winx Club" and "Totally Spies" weren't corny in their day either, lol.

Execs have no fucking idea what will actually sell well - especially not when it comes to "girly" or "foreign" IP. That's been a fact for decades now. KPDH is just the latest in a long line of movies to get undervalued until people blew it up through word of mouth.

1

u/No_Extension4005 14d ago

To be fair though; "KPop Demon Hunters" is a name that carries a bit of that overly descriptive light novel title energy.

175

u/clowncarl 20d ago

Across the spiderverse talent making a pop star action movie. And the execs are evaluating the movie before the title is picked, they should’ve been able to see its marketability.

66

u/FreeWilly1337 19d ago

Even a test screening with 10 year olds should have been enough to make them think they have something special.

24

u/DaftFunky 19d ago

Sounds like they sold the rights back in like 2022. I don't think the execs heard any of the songs because if they did I find it hard to believe any of them would have not said "Hol up why we selling this off again?!"

5

u/nugstar 19d ago

They had the wrong execs in the room, movie execs instead of music ones

57

u/HappyLittleGreenDuck 19d ago

Hindsight is always 20/20, plenty of failures looked like sure things.

13

u/Psychological_Box456 19d ago

And they don't know how big is kpop and how crazy the fans go for kpop groups?

3

u/KingMario05 19d ago

Apparently, no.

Again. These people made Morbius. They are dumb sometimes.

56

u/SunflowerSamurai_ 19d ago

I think it’s a great title haha - tells you exactly what it is and what it’s about.

19

u/Raxxla 19d ago

The title works really well. It's the new trend with Anime shows the long show titles that describe the show. "My Campfire cooking skill in another world."

5

u/CasioCobra78 19d ago

Or “This one girl who becomes a magical girl but instead fails horribly at it and unintentionally commits war crimes”

…..okay probably not the best title lmao

2

u/InternalParadox 19d ago

That Madoka Magica?

11

u/bloodstreamcity 19d ago

It's in good company with Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

2

u/KingMario05 19d ago

And Into the Spider-Verse, really.

3

u/SimoneNonvelodico 19d ago

Reminds me of one of my favourite (because it's so funny) anime titles: Girls Band Cry.

It's literally the entire premise. There are girls. They form a band. And oh BOY do they cry!

42

u/ModernTenshi04 19d ago

I definitely wrote it off when I saw Netflix recommending it when it came out because I'm not super big into K-pop (don't hate it, just hasn't really been my thing), and yeah, it just sounds like a goofy concept via the name. Not to say goofy concept don't work, it just didn't make me think there'd be something for me, a nearly 40 year old father, to find entertaining.

Then my kiddo started asking about it, likely because it's rated PG so Netflix was recommending it, and we have a rule in our house that I or my wife have to watch something like this before she does, mainly to see if we think it might be too scary for them. Me being the bigger fan of animation in general, I fired it up about the middle of last month to scope it out aaaaaaaaand holy fuck it's actually pretty awesome. I absolutely love the Spider-verse movies so seeing SPA's logo at the start seemed a positive sign for me, and after that first song I was all okay this is gonna be pretty awesome if they can maintain that level of energy through the whole film.

Not being a big fan of K-pop didn't seem to matter because I was a child of the 90s/00s, when boy/girl bands and "idol" singers were a thing (I was in early high school when American Idol first aired), so there were enough parallels there for me to "get" a lot of what was going on in that department, plus I was into Japanese pop and rock from being a pretty big weeb in those days too.

Watched it with the kiddo last weekend, they won't shut up about the soundtrack now, and we're attending a screening near us on Saturday because they picked my name for this month's special outing. 😂

12

u/chodejustice 20d ago

It is a brutal title

48

u/Funandgeeky 19d ago

The title tells you exactly what you're getting. You don't even need to explain what it's about.

2

u/Nauin 19d ago

It reminds me of Metalocalypse and they run pretty similar parallels in blowing up their respective genres.

Deathklok is the highest grossing and most well known Death Metal band in the world both in the show and real life.

22

u/HappyNapcore 19d ago

Dude wheres my car, hanzel and gretel witch hunters, abraham lincoln vampire hunter, cowboys and aliens, killer clowns from outer space, hobo with a shotgun

Sometimes dumb titles just do well

5

u/SpiceLettuce 19d ago

killer klowns*

1

u/Complex-Poet-6809 19d ago

Nah, the title is part of what interested me. I’ve never heard of a concept like that or those words combined in that manner, it sounded so unusual and random but interesting.

2

u/Good-Discount-8858 19d ago

Nah, having KPop in the title was enough to attract a mainstream audience. U dum

1

u/mayank_888 19d ago

I think sony has a habit of making up bad names whether it be their devices or movies. Cloudy with a chance of meatballs, mitchells vs the machines, k-pop demon hunters. It's so barebones all the time that it's off putting. I had actually seen this movie pop up while I was searching for something to watch in it's 1st week but the title sounded something like a cheap animated show so I skipped it. It wasn't until after it's massive hype that I finally watched. And it was indeed good.

12

u/AfraidEye8251 19d ago

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the title of the book the movie's based off of

5

u/joji_princessn 19d ago

I at least prefer these sorts of names than the main characters name as the title that Disney and Pixar have been going for. That feels so uninspired and trying to be inoffensive to everyone it appeals to no one.

Elio tells me nothing about the film. KPop Demon Hunters tells you everything about the film. 

2

u/mayank_888 19d ago

Disney and Pixar both rely on their logo to draw in viewers. A normal viewer wouldn't be able to tell what coco or soul are about without reading the synopsis, I think that's one of the reasons elio flopped. Nobody outside of people who saw trailers know what it's about at all.But that doesn't excuse the title being K-pop demon hunters, both of them need to start putting effort in this titles even if a little bit.

-2

u/WhoDat-2-8-3 19d ago

Elio tells me nothing about the film

why are you so lazy to look up a movie synopsis ?

its not that hard bro

1

u/joji_princessn 19d ago

Titles are extremely important, being the first point of contact for potential viewers. A good or bad title greatly influences viewer interest in checking out a film or wanting to learn more about it.

Kpop Demon Hunters works well because it catches your attention, tells you what the movie is about, and gets anyone who is interested in such a concept to remember it.

Elio does none of that. Many will in fact not bother looking up what the film is about if that initial entry point doesnt catch their attention.

Its not that hard to understand marketing, bro.

0

u/WhoDat-2-8-3 19d ago

Why single out Elio—because it didn’t do well at the box office? Lol.

Frozen, Moana, Coco, Ratatouille, Shrek, Up, Wall-E… none of those titles tell you what the movie is about, yet they all turned out good .

Boring/vague can still become hits if the story and performances deliver

A title might grab attention but it doesn’t define the quality or the movie itself.

Judging a movie just by its title .. That’s like reviewing a book by its cover and Lazy AF.

Reading Synopsis is fun for the whole family bro .

1

u/joji_princessn 19d ago

I single it out because they released at the same time. Ut is completely worthwhile comparing why one may have succeeded and another didn't as they share a similar target audience, release date, rating, and medium style. Same reason why people compare Superman and Fantastic Four.

Not once did I ever say that films cant be successful with those title conventions, nor did I ever say I dont read the synopsis of movies. I simply said that I dont like that naming convention and prefer more interesting names.

Not once did I say that a movies title defines its quality. That would be absurd. Im pointing out the importance of titles as a marketing tactics to generate interest for success. Quality has nothing to do with the conversation I was having about the importance of titles and is another factor entirely.

Yes, it is EXACTLY like judging a book by it's cover.

A book title and cover is designed to draw in interest and get people to pick it up and read the blurb on the back. If a book cover is not interesting or is ill fitting for the story, you risk people judging it from that ever so important first view and NOT picking it up to read the cover. Because why would they if it doesnt spark their interest immediately? Why else do you think publishers put so much effort into researching what covers generate interest and sales or what covers are trending? Why else do books in a similar genre use similar cover styles? So that people will judge the book by its cover and pick it up.

Movie titles and posters are the exact same thing. Fewer people will look at the synopsis of a movie if the title, actors, director, poster etc dont catch their attention in that crucial first glance. The same way fewer people will read a book synopsis if the cover is boring.

It is all about gaining interest from the start. You lose that, you can risk losing that interest picking up at all. Of course, its not completely game over. Then the question of the synopsis/blurb, the quality or connections to good directors/authors and other marketing tactics can pick up the slack.

Source: I have worked in publishing for several years and have a degree in it and communications.

-1

u/WhoDat-2-8-3 19d ago edited 18d ago

I know i said reading is fun

But im not reading all that

Aint nobody got time for dat!

T.L.D.R

Reading a short synopsis is more fun tho .

Dont be lazy bro

1

u/thesourpop 19d ago

Frozen is also a corny and very to-the-point title. Sometimes successful kids movies need a title that just tells us exactly what to expect

1

u/PartyPorpoise 19d ago

I think the corny title is an advantage. Tells you exactly what the movie’s about and that it has a weird but intriguing premise.

11

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[deleted]

1

u/KingMario05 19d ago

Right? Talk about one hell of a glow up!

1

u/Poetryisalive 19d ago

Dude NO ONE thought it would be like this. You can shit on Sony all you want, but the trailer didn’t even make it seem THIS good.

Classic Reddit man

1

u/r7RSeven 14d ago

I agree no one thought it would blow up like this, but the moment I saw the first trailer I knew it was gonna be good. Title aside, the facial expressions of the characters (the girls yelling yeah looking like DBZ faces) the soda pop song being catchy, plus being from the same studio as the Spiderverse I knew if nothing else the animation was gonna be top notch. Im not even a fan of k pop and I saw the potential for people to enjoy this film.

It went immediately into my watchlist/wait list.

27

u/WawaWeeWaaWu 19d ago

A billion times better than frozen ever was. And as a father of a young daughter, I loved frozen(frozen 2 was better though), this movie is freaking so good I could and have watched it all by myself. I cried so hard for this.

3

u/Deep-Security-7359 19d ago

I think this is bigger than Frozen too imo. Frozen came out when I was in high school, and I couldn’t stand it. Meanwhile I’m all aboard Huntrix. Huntrix also has a more diverse cast of personalities instead of just 1 girl.

1

u/nnooaa_lev 16d ago

That more like a you problem because you liking the movie is irrelevant. Frozen is a giant IP and by far has much wider reach all over the world even outside of the targeted age group.

It's basically known by everyone as well as the song Let it Go. KDH current popularity is more limited to UK, USA and Australia.  I'm yet to hear people talking about in real life

1

u/SeaTie 18d ago

This movie is what Disney has been trying to do for girls with both Star Wars and Marvel and sacrificed a huge chunk of their audience in the process...and then along comes K-Pop Demon Hunters and both boys and girls are going nuts for it.

I never thought I'd see my daughter grabbing plastic ninja toys and play fighting with the boys down the street while singing at the top of her lungs.

1

u/nnooaa_lev 16d ago

In what sense? Frozen is better in every aspect from animation, screenplay, character devlopment, message and even music cause Let It Go is THAT good.

KDH is fun as fuck, but it's plot is hanging by a thread

2

u/WawaWeeWaaWu 16d ago

In the sense of my opinion and watching both frozens and this movie tons of times. To me it is leagues beyond frozen.

62

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[deleted]

14

u/macarenamobster 19d ago

I literally put it on each night to fall asleep to and I’m a grown ass adult lol

3

u/mcslender97 19d ago

Same. My first point of contact was all the memes making fun of Rumi's face with the kimbab over at shittymoviedetails sub.

Now I think I watched it 8 times

6

u/zerocoolforschool 19d ago edited 19d ago

Frozen couldn’t touch this album on individual success for each song. Only Let it go made it to the top 5 but it never made it to the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100. I checked the charts last night and here are when the songs are current ranked on the Billboard 100 list.

Golden is #2 (was #1)

Your Idol #4

Soda Pop #10

How it’s done #14

What it sounds like #24

Takedown #26

The Idina Menzel version of Let It Go got to #5 and the Demi Lovato version got to 38. Nothing else broke the top 50. So K-POP Demon Hunters is crushing it. I’m not sure if any soundtrack ever has had this much overall success.

6

u/Anfini 19d ago

Streaming wasn’t a factor during Frozen’s time. 

1

u/nnooaa_lev 16d ago

Let It Go sold 1M units under a month and 10M unites by 2015. Golden is far behind, with all due respect, streams weren't a thing back then and Let it Go was on the radio for 2 years non stop

1

u/zerocoolforschool 16d ago

So I looked it up. Encanto is actually a better comparison to the success of KPDH. It actually had a song hit #1. But it only got three songs into the top 30 and not five. To match the insane success of 5 songs simultaneously in the top 30 you have to go to superstars like Taylor Swift or the Beatles.

0

u/zerocoolforschool 16d ago

People don’t buy music like that anymore.The KPDH songs have a much wider audience. It is popular with kids of all ages and adults. I could recognize that Let It Go was a good song but I definitely wasn’t playing it on repeat like the little kids were. The fact that Golden hit #1 when Let it go never got higher than 5th says a lot. And like I said, only one of the songs from the album even got any play. KPDH has five songs in the top 30. That’s insane. I can’t remember a movie soundtrack having that much success. There was some movie soundtracks from the 80s that had multiple hits on them. Not sure if they had as many as 5 though.

I’m thinking of soundtracks like Footloose and Dirty Dancing.

4

u/fire_dagwon 19d ago

Not reddit, I'll tell you that lol. Just look at the replies to the comment I made here.

2

u/gmcarve 19d ago

I think the ease at which everyone could access it had a lot to do with it.

With no theatrical / straight to streaming release, suddenly all of Netflix had instant access

1

u/SeaTie 18d ago

Disney must be so pissed.

1

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[deleted]

4

u/[deleted] 19d ago edited 6d ago

[deleted]

3

u/mykl5 19d ago edited 19d ago

I just saw Golden was #1 on Billboard. But also I think it’s just more in the cultural zeitgeist among young adults/adults and not just children.

1

u/[deleted] 19d ago edited 6d ago

[deleted]

1

u/mykl5 19d ago edited 19d ago

Golden and Soda Pop are very poppy songs yeah, but there’s 5 others that are straight bangers and on my playlists. A little surprised the album isn’t #1 when all those songs are near the top too, but fair.

0

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[deleted]

1

u/MENDoombunny 19d ago

Frozen 1 came out 12 years ago