KPop Demon Hunters; India Embraces AI; Busan's ACFM Tackles Market Problems
It’s been difficult to avoid KPop Demon Hunters this week, so I’m starting with an item on this pop culture phenomenon, not least because I was surprised to read that it’s become Netflix’s most watched English-language film of all time.
As I watched the animated film on Netflix with the Korean audio (full disclosure, didn’t make it past ten minutes, not really my thing), I didn’t realise that this was an English-language movie. But after a brief investigation, discovered that it doesn’t have any Korean production partner or physical connection to the nation of South Korea, beyond some of the voice talent, soundtrack and themes.
Produced by Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix, the film is a wholly American production created by Korean-Canadian filmmaker Maggie Kang, who was born in Korea but moved to Canada at the age of five. She's been saying in interviews that it's the film's attention to authenticity that has made it such a success – the film is based on Korean folklore and shows many aspects of Korean culture – but avoids the missteps of Disney films like Mulan by getting all the details of Korean food, art and clothing completely correct. “I didn’t do it alone. There were many Koreans on our team who checked everything to make sure there were no mistakes,” Kang told the Korea Times.
And it certainly has been a huge success – with 236 million views since its June 20 release, the film has surpassed Red Notice (2021) to become the biggest title on Netflix’s all-time Most Popular English Films list. The sing-along version was released in US theatres this past weekend where it topped the chart with an estimated $19m. The songs in the film are one of the biggest elements driving its success with tracks like Golden topping the UK singles chart. While the sing-along version has already dropped on the Netflix platform globally, cinemas across Asia will no doubt be clamouring to also screen it. Talks are already underway for a sequel.
