Golden songwriter confirms KPop Demon Hunters sequel ‘in process’

KPop Demon Hunters songwriter Mark Sonnenblick has confirmed that a sequel to the Netflix animated film is “in process”.

KPop Demon Hunters is an action fantasy-musical following popular K-pop girl group HUNTR/X, who lead a double life battling a rival boy band, the Saja Boys, who turn out to be demons.

The film’s lead single “Golden” quickly became the breakout success of the summer, winning awards at both the Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Awards. Earlier this month, “Golden” became the first-ever K-pop song to win at the Grammys, and is also nominated at the forthcoming Oscars for best original song.

“This song could have disappeared. The only reason this nomination happened is fans responded and told other people to watch the film,” Sonnenblick told the BBC.

Sonnenblick wrote “Golden” along with Ejae, Teddy Park, 24, and Ido.

In November last year, a Bloomberg report said that Netflix had finalised a deal for a second film with directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans and Sony Corp, which had developed the initial film. However, due to the lengthy production time for animated features, it is not expected arrive on the streaming service till 2029.

“There’s going to be a whole development process before we get deep into writing the songs. The music will follow from the story and that's if it makes sense for us all to be doing it again,” Sonnenblick said, on the music for the sequel.

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KPop Demon Hunters features a voice cast led by Teen Wolf’s Arden Cho and popular K-drama star Ahn Hyo Seop, along with May Hong and Yoo Ji Young. The supporting voice cast includes Kim Yun Jin, Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong, and Squid Game’s Lee Byung Hun.

Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami provide the singing voices for the HUNTR/X’s members in the film, and all three are scheduled to perform the chart-topping single at the forthcoming Bafta film awards.

Since its release on Netflix in June, K‑Pop Demon Hunters has become Netflix’s most-watched animated film.

Last year, Kang had talked about what a potential sequel might cover and brought up the leads’ and their backstories, which was hinted at in the first film.

“What is it about these girls that brought them into HUNTR/X and made them demon hunters? What is each of their back story? How did they get chosen? What is that journey like?” Kang told Entertainment Weekly. “There was really not a space for the movie to show all that. So we really had to make these choices of what is essential to the story, and that is the information that we will show.”

In a sequel, Kang added, “we can reveal more of that backstory”.

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In an earlier interview with Variety, she 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.”

Voice actors for the leads have also shown interest in returning for a sequel; Ahn, whose character Jinu was implied to have sacrificed himself at the film’s end, has said he would “love” to see his character return. Cho too told Variety that she would “love to see if we can rescue Jinu”.

A report by The Wrap last year said two sequels had been planned to form a trilogy, with a live-action adaptation and stage musical also in development, according to sources familiar with the matter.