Netflix, Sony eye KPop Demon Hunters sequel for 2029, streamer gives ad update

KPop Demon Hunters is Netflix’s most-watched film ever

Netflix has reached a deal with Sony to produce a sequel to the smash hit movie KPop Demon Hunters, the streamer’s most-watched film ever, but the follow-up is not expected to debut until 2029, according to Bloomberg.

Given the popularity of the action musical, it was almost a certainty Netflix and Sony would move forward with more instalments. Talks about a sequel have been ongoing since the first movie became a mammoth hit, overtaking Red Notice at the top of Netflix’s most-watched list, but this is the first time it has been reported that a deal has been reached.

KPop Demon Hunters, which follows a K-Pop girl group whose members are also secretly demon hunters protecting their fans, is directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans. It is based on a story by Kang, with the script written by Danya Jimenez, Hannah McMechan, Kang and Appelhans. The voice cast includes Arden Cho, Ahn Hyo-seop, May Hong and Ji-young Yoo.

Part of the reason for the time lag between instalments is that the movie was an unexpected hit, the likes of which has rarely, if ever, been seen in the streaming era.

Following the movie’s success, Netflix took the rare step of giving the film a limited theatrical release in the US, in August and then again last month.

Elsewhere, Netflix on Wednesday revealed a change in the way it counts the number of people who are watching and engaging with its advertising tier. Under a new methodology, the streamer now counts monthly active viewers (MAV), which it defines as people who have watched at least one minute of ads on Netflix in a given month, multiplied by the estimated number of people in that household.

Under this new system, Netflix says it has 190 million MAVs globally. It did not release a market breakdown for the US, though said it has 6.6 million MAVs in Canada and 4 million in Australia.

Previously, Netflix counted monthly active users (MAUs), a metric based on the number of accounts watching content on the advertising tier. In its previous disclosure, in May, Netflix said it had 94 million MAUs. However, Netflix said this method meant it was under counting the number of people watching the ad tier.