Younger audiences will be singing their hearts out in cinemas across the UK this month as KPop Demon Hunters arrives on the big screen for a series of special sing-along events.
The unexpected Netflix hit, which has become the most popular animated film of all time on the streaming platform, has hooked children (and many parents) worldwide since its release in June.
The film’s soundtrack, meanwhile, is dominating the charts with more than 3bn global streams so far and the song Golden reaching No 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and the UK’s official singles chart. The official video has been viewed on YouTube more than 130m times.
KPop Demon Hunters follows the adventures of the girl group Huntr/x, made up of Rumi, Mira and Zoey, who use their secret identities as demon hunters to protect their fans from supernatural threats and face off against a rival band, Saja Boys, whose members are secretly demons.
Tickets are now on sale for the screenings across the UK on 23 and 24 August. Netflix confirmed similar events will be available in the US and Canada on the same weekend.
Along with demand for a sequel, there is also an insatiable demand for its merchandise, with Hunter/x T-shirts, hoodies and hats among the bestselling items on Netflix’s website.
Maggie Kang, the film’s Korean-Canadian co-director, previously said she and her co-director, Chris Appelhans, had wanted the film’s music to be “really incredible and really speak to the K-pop fans and legitimately fit into the K-pop space”.
In contrast, Hollywood animation is having a lacklustre summer at the box office and it is possible that not a single fully animated film will make the top 10.
The Disney-Pixar original Elio has been trounced by “live-action” remakes of Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon.
