You might not want to hold your breath for a live-action remake of KPop Demon Hunters, unless you want to turn as blue as Derpy the tiger demon.
According to the creator of the smash hit animated Netflix film, KPop Demon Hunters simply wouldn’t translate well to live action—a sentiment that backtracks what she shared earlier this summer.
Maggie Kang, creator and co-director of the musical phenomenon, previously told Forbes there was a possibility KPop Demon Hunters could eventually be remade in live action, similar to Disney’s and other studios’ successful remakes, such as DreamWorks’ live-action adaptation of their 2010 film How To Train Your Dragon.
“I really enjoyed [How To Train Your Dragon]. I was sitting in the theater thinking, I wonder if anybody would want to see a live-action KPop Demon Hunters. What would that be like?” Kang mused in June.
Unfortunately — or perhaps fortunately, depending on your point of view regarding live-action remakes of popular animated movies — it looks like Kang has since changed her opinion.
Speaking to the BBC in October, Kang admitted “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,” she explained.
READ MORE: KPop Demon Hunters Is the Most-Watched Netflix Movie Ever
Co-director Chris Appelhans mirrored Kang’s perspective. “One of the great things about animation is that you make these composites of impossibly great attributes. Rumi can be this goofy comedian and then singing and doing a spinning back-kick a second later and then freefalling through the sky,” he shared.
“The joy of animation is how far you can push and elevate what’s possible. I remember they adapted a lot of different anime and oftentimes, it just feels a little stilted,” Appelhans added.
While CGI and special effects could certainly bring, say, the shimmering Golden Honmoon to life, or convincingly allow Rumi, Mira, and Zoey to jump out of a torn-in-half private jet while battling demon flight attendants, it’s true that the colorful elasticity of the animated characters and their larger-than-life world wouldn’t quite feel the same in live-action. So, it’s probably for the best to keep the idea of a live-action remake sealed up tight like the demon lord Gwi-Ma.
Still, that doesn’t mean there’s no future for the franchise. During her chat with the BBC, Kang revealed she’s “excited for the potential for more stories” surrounding Huntr/x, and that while there’s nothing solid to be shared just yet, “there’s definitely more we can do with these characters in this world.”
“Whatever it will be, it will be a story that deserves to be a sequel, and it will be something that we want to see,” she teased.
Hopefully, fans won’t have to wait too long. In August, it was reported that Sony and Netflix are already in talks to make a KPop Demon Hunters sequel, with both Kang and Appelhans in negotiations to return.
KPop Demon Hunters is available to watch on Netflix.
Animated Movies KPop Demon Hunters Fans Must See
From action-packed adventures to folklore-inspired fantasies, these gorgeously animated movies are filled with music, romance, magic, and thrills perfectly suited for fans of KPop Demon Hunters.
Gallery Credit: Erica Russell