Sony Pictures Animation has just unleashed the first trailer for their upcoming animated feature, KPop Demon Hunters. This isn’t just another concert film; it’s a full-on supernatural showdown where your favorite idols moonlight as powerful demon slayers.
The film, directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, centres on the fierce K-pop trio Rumi, Mira, and Zoey. By day, they’re selling out stadiums and topping charts. By night? They’re secretly battling sinister forces to protect their loyal fanbase. The big challenge? A rival boy band that’s actually hiding a demonic secret. You heard that right – demonic boy band.
KPop Demon Hunters boasts an impressive voice cast that’s packed with talent. You’ll hear Arden Cho (Partner Track) as Rumi, Ahn Hyo-seop (Business Proposal) as Jinu (the demonic boy band leader), Ji-young Yoo (Expats) as Zoey, May Hong (Tales of the City) as Mira, and Yunjin Kim (Lost). Plus, prepare for appearances from Joel Kim Booster (Fire Island), Liza Koshy (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts), and veterans Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong, and Byung Hun Lee (Squid Game).
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The music is a huge part of this movie, as you’d expect. The soundtrack features original songs written and produced by top Korean and international talents from THEBLACKLABEL, including Teddy Park, 24, IDO, DOMINSUK, and Danny Chung. And for all you ONCEs out there, Jeongyeon, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung of K-pop supergroup TWICE have an original song, ‘Takedown’, featured in the film. The trio described it as “a high-energy track with a powerful beat,” that’s “filled with fierce determination and the will to tear down anything fake.” Other contributing artists include EJAE, Audrey Nuna, Kevin Woo, and Lea Salonga.
Maggie Kang told EW that her motivation was “my desire to see Korean people on film in animation. So it actually started off as just a demon hunter project where I wanted to showcase Korean demons. Because demon hunting is usually a side job that’s done in secret, it was like, what is their day job?”
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The animation style, coming from Sony Pictures Animation (the team behind the Spider-Verse films), looks vibrant and dynamic, mixing intense fight scenes with some pretty hilarious character reactions.
KPop Demon Hunters is set to hit Netflix on June 20.