Latest news with #ChrisAppelhans
New York Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘KPop Demon Hunters' Took 7 Years to Make but a Lifetime of Experience
Ever since its release on Netflix last month, the original animated film 'KPop Demon Hunters' has burned up the internet — and the charts. The musical fantasy has topped the streamer's global rankings and inspired countless memes, dance challenges (some even by K-pop stars), themed merchandise and fan art. The film's equally blockbuster soundtrack has stormed the music charts, with eight of its songs landing in the Billboard Hot 100. 'KPop Demon Hunters' follows the members of a fictional K-pop girl group as they juggle demanding careers and fight to save the world from soul-stealing demons. The film's directors, Maggie Kang (a veteran storyboard artist on films like 'Rise of the Guardians' and 'Puss in Boots' ) and Chris Appelhans (who directed 'Wish Dragon'), spoke about the making of their movie and its unexpected rise as a global cultural phenomenon. Here are edited excerpts from the conversation. Maggie, the story behind 'KPop Demon Hunters' was your idea. What convinced you that a film that combines disparate elements like K-pop, animation, traditional Korean art and mythology, and demons could resonate with so many different audiences? MAGGIE KANG Well, nothing did. [Laughs] I was basically just trying to make something that I wanted to see: a movie that celebrated Korean culture. And for some reason, I landed on demonology. I thought the jeoseung saja [grim reapers in Korean mythology] — which is what the boys are at the end of the movie with the black hats and the black robes — was such an iconic image from my childhood that I was very scared of, so I knew that I wanted to feature that. And the thought of demons naturally led to demon hunters. I wanted to see female superheroes that were a lot more relatable, who like to eat and make silly faces. We weren't trying to make them just pretty, sexy and cool. They had very real insecurities and showed that. Demon hunting is usually done very secretly, so these girls needed a public-facing persona. I was also really wanting to do something K-pop-related. It was like, let's just see if these two things can go together. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The #1 Netflix movie right now has spent an entire month in the streamer's global Top 10
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, BGR may receive an affiliate commission. Netflix, I hope you have profusely thanked directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, along with everyone else who worked on KPop Demon Hunters — a glittery, candy-colored spectacle of an animated gem that's not only one of the best original movies the streamer has released in years, but also a ratings smash hit for the streamer. The movie, about a fictional K-pop girl group that hunts demons, is so big that it's actually dominated the Netflix global Top 10 movies chart for an entire month now, while its soundtrack has likewise taken the Billboard charts by storm. This week, in fact, Billboard reported that the soundtrack has climbed to #2 on the Billboard 200, while seven of its tracks (led by 'Golden,' from the movie's fictional K-pop girl group HUNTR/X) are currently on the Billboard Hot 100. Today's Top Deals XGIMI Prime Day deals feature the new MoGo 4 and up to 42% off smart projectors Best deals: Tech, laptops, TVs, and more sales Best Ring Video Doorbell deals Long story short: If anything could be said to have attained the status of pop culture conversation-starter of the summer, it's this Netflix standout — which, by the way, is also on track to become the most-watched Netflix animated movie ever. In terms of the latest data on the movie from Netflix, as noted above, it's now spent four weeks on the streamer's global Top 10 English-language movies chart. It racked up another 24.2 million views for the 7-day period that ended on July 13, it's a Top 10 Netflix movie in 93 countries this week — and it's actually the #1 movie in 26 countries, including Canada, the UK, and more. KPop Demon Hunters comes from the same studio behind Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Netflix's The Mitchells vs. The Machines, and the movie's central characters are a trio of K-pop megastars named Rumi, Mira, and Zoey who dominate the charts by day and hunt demons at night. Their rivals are The Saja Boys, a seductive boy band made up of heartthrobs that are also literal demons. In terms of some of its other achievements, the movie has managed to achieve a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes critics' score as of this writing (96%) as well as an audience score that's in the same ballpark (91%). 'I'm a 45 year old dad and watched this with my two girls,' one YouTube commenter raved earlier this month. 'I cried like the fan dudes in the film. I guess it's never too late to become a K-pop fan.' The best thing about the movie, for me, is that it was clearly made by people who have a genuine affection for K-pop. And that love shines through in every detail, from the character designs to the soundtrack, making K-Pop Demon Hunters feel, instead of just another Netflix release, more like a love letter in celebration of K-pop's energy, spirit, and global impact. Don't Miss: Today's deals: Nintendo Switch games, $5 smart plugs, $150 Vizio soundbar, $100 Beats Pill speaker, more More Top Deals Memorial Day security camera deals: Reolink's unbeatable sale has prices from $29.98 See the
Forbes
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Meet The Man Behind The Music Of ‘KPop Demon Hunters': Ian Eisendrath
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 16: (L-R) Ian Eisendrath and Michelle Wong attend the KPop Demon ... More Hunters Special Screening at Netflix Tudum Theater on June 16, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo byfor Netflix) Netflix's animated film, KPop Demon Hunters, has become a pop culture phenomenon. It's impossible to ignore its global sensation, as it hit No. 1 on the streaming network for several weeks, topped the music charts with its soundtrack, was the top topic on every social media platform, and is even being promoted by Netflix for Oscar submissions for Best Original Song. Directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, the film follows a K-pop girl group who moonlight as demon hunters, protecting humanity against supernatural threats. They face their biggest threat from a rival group, the Saja Boys, who are demons in disguise. The music has been heavily praised by critics, fans, and those in the K-pop industry, including BTS, MonstaX, EXO, Enhypen, Wonho, ITZY, and more. Executive music producer Ian Eisendrath is amazed by the reception because he was so focused on the task at hand during production that he didn't think about the potential reactions. 'When you work on these things, you're in a tunnel,' Eisendrath says over Zoom. 'You're almost blind [because] you're moving forward and dealing with all of the challenges of making something original. Having the film receive the way it is, paying off emotionally, and speaking to a contemporary audience is so thrilling.' As executive music producer, Eisendrath wore many hats for the film: conductor, arranger, music and vocal producer, and more. He's been praised by the directors and his music team as the reason for the success of the music and their performances. Eisendrath says it was a team effort. 'I was just the luckiest person,' he says. 'The main thing I got to do was harness all of the incredible creativity, experience, and authenticity of these artists. That was my favorite thing. How do we bring these hitmakers from the pop world into a theatrical world while letting them do the thing they do best?' In the early stages of KPop Demon Hunters, Kang and Appelhans discussed the film being a non-traditional musical, which meant the music had no direct involvement with the storytelling; however, this proved to be difficult for a movie centering on K-pop idols. They had to connect the music with the story, which is where Eisendrath came in. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 16: Ian Eisendrath and Ejae attend Netflix's "KPop Demon Hunters" ... More Special Screening at Netflix Tudum Theater on June 16, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images) The Olivier Award-winning, Grammy-nominated music producer was first approached by Spring Aspers, President of Music at Sony Motion Picture Group, to work on Kpop Demon Hunters, after they had worked together on Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. Eisendrath was no stranger to tying in musicals with film and television. He had worked as the music supervisor, arranger, and conductor for the critically-acclaimed Broadway musical Come From Away, and as executive music producer for Disney's live-action Snow White, Hulu's Only Murders in the Building, and Sony Pictures' Lyle Lyle Crocodile. He knew how to connect music into the story and build it from there, because he's always been interested in this kind of storytelling. 'I went to the University of Michigan School of Music and started as a theater-directing and music major,' he explains. 'I've always been interested in music dramaturgy – what a song, both musically and lyrically, can do for the narrative experience. I've always been interested in how we make musical theater and film musicals, all of which reach an audience beyond your typical Broadway or musical-loving audience.' He understands the first song is key to gaining the audience's trust and, from there, creating moments where the characters' singing feels earned, welcomed, and organic. Working closely with the directorial team and the music team, he collaborated with both to blend their efforts and tell the story effectively. 'My background was the directing side and the music side,' he describes. 'With all the stuff I've done in theatre, it's the same job as bringing everything together. I truly love the process on the mixing and music editorial side and working with all of these artists who all have their specialty and learning to speak their [music] language and understanding each person's aesthetic, paradigm, and how we bring that all together.' Eisendrath teamed up with K-pop music giants THEBLACKLABEL and other songwriters to craft lyrics that sound like pop music, while also uncovering character development and story. He explains, '[The movie leads] are singers, and a large percentage of the songs are performances. However, you can't just sing a song. If you're going to take up two to four minutes of screen time, even if it's in performance, there needs to be something serving the story, the action, the dramatic arc of the characters, the microcosm of the moment, and then the whole arc of the film itself. It was wonderful wrestling as a team to figure out where that line was.' The team wrote several songs for each scene, but as the story evolved, so did the lyrics and sound. Over the course of three years, the story changed the vibe, timing, and everything, but more songs continued to emerge organically with it all. 'The other thing that was really special about this was the alchemy of the number of songwriting voices that were brought to this film,' He says, crediting Aspers for her constant guidance through it. 'It felt like the Avengers of pop [music]. It was an amazing team. It was a wonderful community and collaboration.' LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 16: Anne Eisendrath and Ian Eisendrath attend Netflix's "KPop Demon ... More Hunters" Special Screening at Netflix Tudum Theater on June 16, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images) Eisendrath was also excited to be working in the Korean pop world. He listened to some songs before signing onto the project and thought it could be a theatrical genre, hoping someone would adapt it into a musical or film. But when he was hired onto the project, he began to immerse himself in the K-pop world. Kang and the songwriters sent him several K-pop playlists to listen to. The Spotify algorithm then showed him several 'amazing' K-pop playlists. 'I listened to it all,' he says enthusiastically. 'Honestly, the more I got to know [the music, I recognized] there's a vibe. There is sort of this EDM dance element to it, which I love, and highly-edited, multi-layered vocals. I was instantly attracted [to it]. This is going to be so amazing for the film.' He became a student of the genre, learning about the music in depth, including the various types of K-pop styles. He noticed how huge, emotional, and over-the-top it was in a theatrical way, which made it perfect for the theatre. 'It's perfect for characters to sing and dance to,' he says. 'There's such variety. These tracks are huge—hundreds and hundreds of vocal tracks on every song. There are so many elements in these tracks. We had a big choir ensemble that sang on many of the tracks.' He has become a fan of almost every K-pop group – both past and present, including IDLE (formerly (G)IDLE), BLACKPINK, BTS, and Stray Kids. He emphasized that he loves them all and couldn't list them all, as there are so many groups. 'There's just so much great stuff out there,' he admits. 'I fell in love with everything, but that's how I am when I'm doing these projects. My career has involved many projects with a specific musical heritage and culture. I don't approach it with 'What do I love or what I don't love?' It's more like an obsession with getting to know it. I just fell in love with so many groups.' It also includes TWICE, who worked on the soundtrack version of 'Takedown.' Eisendrath states that the decision to have three members of TWICE participate in the film was made possible by Aspers and Dana Sano, Executive Vice President of Film & Television. 'The two of them sought out TWICE and brought them to us,' says Eisendrath. 'It was a game changer for me. This was the biggest [indicator] that we might be on the right track because my biggest fear was that this would not land with the K-pop audience. The fact that TWICE was excited and wanted to perform a song, [I thought], 'Okay, we're going in the right direction.' They're such a natural choice for this. It's incredible.' Since the film and its music have garnered a lot of attention, many speculate that a sequel is imminent. When asked if he thought about other Korean artists that he'd be interested in collaborating with for the film or in other outside projects, he hasn't thought that far ahead yet – even hypothetically. He is interested in exploring the other sub-genres of K-pop, but it would depend on the story. 'The story drives everything and the content will dictate form,' Eisendrath says. 'That would all depend on what the story is, who is singing, what they need, and then from there, all the references will add up.'
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Golden' Moment: How ‘KPop Demon Hunters' Created the Year's Catchiest Soundtrack
It was a night K-Pop fans around the world wouldn't forget: Superstar groups Huntrix and Saja Boys would go head to head at this year's International Idol Awards. There was only one catch: the International Idol Awards aren't real — and neither are those groups. Both groups can be seen in Netflix's KPop Demon Hunters, a slick animated feature that chronicles the adventures of Huntrix, a girl group comprised of three members who just happen to also fight monsters from the underworld. While the film has become the streamers latest surprise hit, even more surprising is the fact that its soundtrack has taken the real-world internet, and music charts, by storm. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Mozart Mozart': New Series Puts Composer's Forgotten Sister Center Stage (Exclusive Trailer) Foo Fighters Are Back With First Song Since 2023 to Celebrate 30th Anniversary What the Hell Happened With the Sean "Diddy" Combs Verdict? Directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, Demon Hunters follows Huntrix members Rumi, Mira and Zoey as they perform undeniably catchy K-pop tracks by day and battle demons by night. The girls spend the film facing off against a newly-formed boy band Saja Boys, a group of secret demons who are using their popularity to steal souls. The musical fantasy film features a slew of K-pop tracks for their fictional groups, and now the soundtrack has hit number 8 on the Billboard 200 chart, and produced two entries on Billboard's Hot 100 (Saja Boy's 'Your Idol' at No. 77 and Huntrix's 'Golden' at No. 81). KPop Demon Hunter's executive music producer Ian Eisendrath says the film plans to submit Huntrix's 'Golden' as their awards song. Saja Boys, who were inspired by K-pop groups like Tomorrow X Together, BTS, Stray Kids, ATEEZ, BigBang and Monsta X, just surpassed BTS as the highest charting K-pop boy group on Spotify's daily global chart by hitting No. 2 (BTS' 2020 single 'Dynamite' hit No. 3, although members of the group have hit the top spot as soloists). Eisendrath says always knew the project was special, but says he'd 'hoped for like 2% of the reception that we've had.' Eisendrath spoke with THR about how the music came together and why the songs have found mainstream success. What has the response to been like? It's been so gratifying and so thrilling. I've always believed in these songs and what we've accomplished as a real community of music makers, and I've been so honored to work with these K-pop hitmakers. I always was [saying] this was going to be special. This is going to be amazing. But I'd hoped for like two percent of the reception that we've had, so it's mind boggling. We've all been at this and done a ton of films and theater and all these narrative, music-driven genres, but this has always been my dream. To work on something that everyone responds really emotionally and strongly to — the story and characters — but beyond that these songs are beloved as songs themselves. That was our goal from day one, and that was a really steep ask because it's so easy for it to teeter one way or the other. In [some] films, there's some really great character narrative songs, which completely work for the film and work for a fan base, but don't quite have the universal pop reception. Then there's a lot of films that have great pop songs, but they don't necessarily serve the film or the characters. I think it's the alchemy of these two worlds coming together, cinema and K-pop, that [makes it] just so gratifying to see people embracing it. A real moment for us was when Twice was brought on board and wanted to sing one of these songs. Everyone is creating something that one of the biggest K-pop groups believes is something worth recording. You have a big musical theater background. I think there's a strong crossover between K-pop and musical theater. How does that work into it? A thousand percent, and I've been saying that since day one. When Sony called and offered me this job, it was amazing. I've always felt like K-pop is probably the most theatrical, dramatic genre of music today. If you think about just the density even of what a K-pop song is… In each of these songs, we have hundreds of layers of vocals. The tracks are dense, everything is high drama, high energy, and that just lends itself so beautifully to filling the theatrical space. Film songs generally have to be even more high energy, even more multilayered to really pop. What was cool with this genre is you didn't have to force it. It's just there. I've always been interested in what if K-pop songs did have a little more story and a little more content to the lyrics? I have to think that in addition to the incredible music side of it, that these lyrics seem to be hitting deep with people because there is such density and depth to what is being said without getting in the way of it. We wanted to have drops. These songs are not overwhelming [with] 10,000 words coming at you at a mile a minute. When you're tackling a project like this one, it's pretty easy to pick out the inspiration for songs coming from a certain type of K-pop because it's so varied. A great thing about it, like theater, is that the whole thing needs to not be the same sound over and over and over again. Did you say 'we want one of this kind of song or that kind of song'? Hundred percent. I spent a great deal of time with the directors, who have an incredible vision for [the] characters, story and tone, and the music has such a deep impact on that, that the first step was temping in other songs into the storyboards. That was a way to find the real energy. Everything started not as an original song, but with various songs, temped in. We like that tempo, we like that pulse, we like that style. Then when we would launch the various songwriters on these songs, we would give them a list of references, and we'd be like, 'Oh, we love how this bridge feels because of these specific details.' Once we passed it off to songwriters and started working with them, there was no attempt to mimic or copy what is there, but it helped us speak the same language, and then obviously our film has its own voice and musical language. But absolutely, the incredible K-pop groups out there and variety of music impacted how we developed these songs. It has to be the only way you can tackle something as large in scope as K-pop. What was so cool — I don't think everyone will totally know — is that Spring Aspers, the president of music at Sony, she put together this stable of artists. This was a film made by a musical community, as opposed to one or two people. There was so much crossover in that one person would be like, oh my gosh, we love that production, let's now throw this to another person to work on a top line. Let's bring these three people together to work on lyric. There was just all these crazy collaborations and crossover that I really think is the key to the film's success. It's real alchemy. This was just unique because we started with people steeped in writing in this genre and then brought them over to the film side. Hearing you talk about the collaboration between artists, one thing that came across in both the film and songs is that everyone involved seems to deeply care about K-pop. People can see K-pop as something they can, for lack of a better term, cash in on without really understanding it. But seems to understand it. That was the mission from day one, which started from top down leadership. We wanted to go to the people that have lived this music. I think that was what was so exciting, and I learned so much from all of them. There was a real desire and so much energy spent on featuring, uplifting and authenticating this genre of music by having the real music makers from this genre create [the music]. It was so thrilling. We had so many meetings with The Black Label [Teddy Park]. It was humbling and cool. [For the] recording sessions, we did vocals in Korea, we did vocals in L.A., we did vocals in New York — dozens and dozens of hours with each individual singer. I would record everyone isolated on their own. Even that was a cool process, continuing to stack and add people and then end up with this incredible sound and alchemy. That's also something unique about this: for a lot of pop songs there's a lead vocal and that same lead vocalist is doing all their background vocals. For this film, the Saja Boys have five members. They're all doing their lead, and they're all singing backup vocals. It's just a rich texture. I have to throw some real credit to EJAE Kim, who I really feel like helped develop the sound of Huntrix … in terms of the vocals. She and I co-arranged the vocals, but my goal was to really build and realize her incredibly unique and innate language and musical style. Obviously, the response to the film and music has been great but do you have any other hopes for this project? I want K-pop — not that it hasn't already — but I want it to crossover to everyone. I love that it's going way beyond the fans. I want that to continue. I want to see more films made this way. I want to see more musicals. I feel like this film has shown people that you can actually create a musical that speaks to the pop music culture and the universal audience at large. I also want to see all these artists that have created [on this film] embraced. I want to mention our vocalists, the singers. We had Audrey Nuna, EJAE Kim and Rei Ami [as Huntrix]. I want to see them explode as singers. Each of our Saja Boys: Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Samuil [Lee], Kevin Woo and Danny Chung. All the songwriters — Steven Kirk, Jenna Andrews, Lindgren, The Black Label, EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick… That'd be my dream, to just see all of them blow up and for it all to win a bunch of awards. That's the hope, right? Yeah. I'm really excited about 'Golden' being the song that is going to be the awards song. I responded to it with deep emotion and joy as it was being built, as did the directors. We had five to six songs written for that slot, and we just kept going until it was the right energy. The directors are tough customers, in the best possible way, and they had a real vision for what this needed to be. We just kept on launching songs, trying different writers and figuring out how to make this song accomplish so much. And I think you'll understand this, [like] in theater, it was their 'I want' song. ['Golden'] was an 'I want' that … had to do a ton of exposition and backstory. And it absolutely had to be not an approximation of, but a legit K-pop hit single. I think that was probably the most challenging song [because we had to] have all of those things align. It's really gratifying to see it embraced so much. I think that melody that appears in the pre-chorus and the end of the chorus is so beautiful, and the production from The Black Label just makes me smile every time. Best of The Hollywood Reporter The 40 Best Films About the Immigrant Experience Wes Anderson's Movies Ranked From Worst to Best 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts
Geek Tyrant
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Review: KPOP DEMON HUNTERS Suprised Me With it's Cool Animation Style and Wild Story — GeekTyrant
I'll be honest, I jumped into watching KPop Demon Hunters knowing absolutely nothing. I don't follow K-pop, I hadn't seen a trailer, and I only hit play because my daughter wanted to watch it with me. But, a few minutes in, I realized I wasn't just tolerating it, I was totally on board. This is one of those unexpected gems that sneaks up on you and ends up leaving a big grin on your face. It's stylish, funny, emotionally sharp, and packed with monster-fighting mayhem, all while tapping into the high-energy gloss of the K-pop world. The story follows Huntrix, a global girl group with a secret side hustle… demon hunting. Rumi, Mira, and Zoey split their time between performing for fans as shows and supernatural takedowns, and when a rival boy band turns out to be demons in disguise, things really kick off. The tone strikes a tricky balance between fantasy, action, with some emotional weight and humor, and it actually works. There's a surprising depth here, especially in how the movie explores identity, pressure, and finding your place in a manufactured world. Visually, the film pops. The animation style is wild, cool, and fluid, with choreographed action sequences that are awesome! On top of that, there's the music that pulses through the storytelling. Directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans clearly understand the appeal of both anime-inspired action and idol performance culture, and they merge the two in ways that feel fresh. The world-building is dense with myth and magic, and while not every detail clicks perfectly, there's enough creativity and momentum to keep you locked in. What really sells it, though, is the heart. I didn't expect to care this much about the characters, but I did. There's a storng character arc here, particularly for Rumi, that digs into self-worth and the fear of letting people down. Huntrix isn't just fighting demons, they're confronting guilt, shame, and the feeling of being trapped between who the world wants you to be and who you actually are. That's a lot for a movie that also features demon boy bands and glowing swords, but somehow, it pulls it off. There's also a layer of satire running through the whole thing. The film has fun poking at the overproduced world of pop culture. It uses humor to highlight how exhausting the performance of perfection can be. That message feels especially relevant to younger viewers, but it'll hit for older ones too. K-Pop Demon Hunters might not connect with every viewer the same way, especially if you're looking for something more grounded or serious. But if you're open to wild ideas and want to watch something that swings big and looks cool doing it, this is a great pick. It's kinetic, heartfelt, and just a whole lot of fun, whether you're a K-pop fan or, like me, just along for the ride.
