‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Sequel Aims for 2029 Netflix Release

A sequel to this year’s breakout animated smash KPop Demon Hunters appears to be officially on track, according to a new report in Bloomberg.

Casually tucked at the end of an article about Demon Hunters merch was confirmation that Netflix had finalized a deal for a second movie with directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, as well as Sony (which originally developed KPop Demon Hunters). Because of the significant production time animated movies require, the sequel likely won’t arrive until 2029.

Reps for Netflix and Sony did not immediately return requests for comment. 

KPop Demon Hunters tells the story of a K-pop trio called Huntr/x, whose three members also moonlight as demon hunters. In the film, they’re forced to square off against a rival boy band called the Saja Boys, who are also secretly demons. The three members of Huntr/x are voiced by Arden Cho, May Hong, and Ji-young You, while their vocals are provided by Ejae, Audrey Nina, and Rei Ami. 

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Appelhans said he and Kang were inspired to make the film after watching BTS’ live-streamed concerts during the pandemic: “We were thinking about how we dramatize the idea of music as a way to fight against bad things in the world,” he said.

Released in June, the film had little traditional marketing push but quickly became not only a hit but the most-watched original movie in Netflix history. (It currently has upwards of 325 million views.) The film’s accompanying soundtrack has also been one of the biggest records of the year, having now spent 19 weeks on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, with a peak chart position of Number One (its reign was only thwarted by Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl). Additionally, several songs from the album have been Hot 100 mainstays, with the breakthrough track “Golden” reaching Number One on the chart in August.