KPop Demon Hunters Directors Discuss Oscar Prospects and Sequel Potential

Sun Oct 12 2025 05:32:48 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

Directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans of the hit animated film 'KPop Demon Hunters' share insights on the film's groundbreaking success, Oscar nominations, and the possibility of a sequel, revealing their excitement for future stories involving the beloved characters.

In a recent interview, 'KPop Demon Hunters' directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans expressed their enthusiasm for potential sequels and hinted at Oscar nominations for the acclaimed animated feature. The film, which centers on a KPop girl group battling evil forces, has broken viewing records on Netflix and generated significant buzz for its original music. Both directors reflect on the film's trajectory, its cultural impact, and the passionate fanbase that has contributed to its success.

KPop Demon Hunters Directors Discuss Oscar Prospects and Sequel Potential

Maggie Kang, the creator and co-director of Kpop Demon Hunters, has said she is excited for the potential for more stories involving animated girl group Huntr/x.

Speaking to the BBC during a visit to Europe, Kang explained that while there was nothing official we can talk about, she and co-director Chris Appelhans believe there's definitely more we can do with these characters in this world.

And 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 added.

Kpop Demon Hunters has become a cultural phenomenon this year, overtaking Squid Game as the most watched title in Netflix history, with more than 325m views.

Netflix

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Could the Oscars go Golden?

There is now a real belief that Kpop Demon Hunters could be set to slay the Oscars.

Critics have loved the film, which holds a score of 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the online review aggregator.

The influential Gold Derby predictions website now has it as the favorite for the best animated film, ahead of Zootopia 2 and Elio.

The title alone is obviously Oscar bait, laughs Chris Appelhans, the American who is the other half of the directing duo.

We tried to do something new and it was really hard and I think we're really proud of how it came out. But if people are going to reward that, that would be awesome.

The other category where the film should be a strong challenger is best original song, where the rules state that any film can only enter three numbers.

Netflix

Netflix have already stated that breakout hit Golden will be included for Academy consideration, but what about the other two slots?

I think Your Idol is such a banger, says Kang about song the Saja Boys sing while feeding the souls of their audience to the evil overlord Gwi-Ma.

We're so proud of the song, but also the sequence. We cheered, we were so proud of it.

Appelhans, however, is team Huntr/x, opting for What it Sounds Like.

The finale was such a technical challenge, both in songwriting and storytelling, he explains.

Ji-young

No matter what happens this awards season, Kang says their expectations for the film have already been more than surpassed.

She surmises that the aim was to connect people and bring them to Kpop.

Just seeing people bond over this movie has been so wonderful, she reflects.

So all the awards would be great, but I think we feel really incredible about what the movie has done already. So it feels like we've kind of won in a way.