Sony Pictures CEOโ Defends Netflix Release Strategy forโ Blockbuster ‘KPop Demon hunters’
LOS ANGELES โฃ – Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO โคTom Rothman isโข standing by the decision to release โข KPopโ Demon Hunters directly to Netflix,despite the film’s surprising success in bothโข streaming โขand a subsequent theatrical run. โคThe film garnered 19โข million views in wide release โขon Netflix late last month and is already sparkingโข sequel discussions.
Rothman addressed the question of a potential theatrical debut during a โrecent Q&A, acknowledging the internal debate surrounding theโฃ film’s initial distribution. โฃDeveloped starting in 2021 as partโฃ of a large output deal with Netflix, KPop Demon Hunters was conceived as a โคdirect-to-platform release during the pandemic. Netflix fully funded the film, includingโ a profit premium, recognizing its niche KPop theme.โค
“Yeah, this โis the question โคwe ask ourselves, and everybody’s asking โขthis too. I don’t know,” rothman said.โ “Obviously,โค in hindsight, it’s such a big hit.” He noted that Netflix ultimately did take the film to theaters, and believes โword-of-mouth fueled its theatrical โขperformance after building an audienceโ onโฃ the โคstreaming service. “So โI think it was in the right home. I would say our mission is makeโฃ great content, find โคthe โขrightโ home. And I think KPop Demon Hunters’ right home was Netflix.”
The success of KPop Demonโ Hunters is โขnow influencing Sony’s ongoing negotiations with streamers regarding future deals. Rothman revealed there’sโข “an ongoing conversation about terms” and a willingness to explore โขarrangements where streamers might pay โless upfront but return more rights to โฃSony. “I’ve toldโ all the streamers we’re very open to that,” he stated. “So we’re havingโ more of thoseโ conversations. So if you think about KPopโฃ Demon Hunters in thatโฃ light,yeah,I think we โwould always rather bet on ourselves,right?”