Premiere K-POP Warriors In the summer, it broke absolutely all established patterns in the world of cinema and streaming. An animated film that Sony Pictures didn’t want to release theatrically because on paper it wasn’t a project that would be a big success, has become the most-watched film in Netflix history. In fact, he greatly surpassed his predecessors. Today there is no doubt that it is one of the greatest cinematic phenomena of the decade.
Characters K-POP Warriors They are everywhere, including social media and the popular video game Fortnite. The songs are also played non-stop on all radio stations and playlists (four of them entered the top 10 of the prestigious Billboard Hot 100 most listened to in the United States). In short, Netflix broke all existing records K-POP Warriorsa huge success that continues to have people talking four months later and is already targeting an Oscar.
At Hipertextual we were able to talk about all this with the directors K-POP Warriors, Maggie Kang And Chris Appelhans. Both exhausted from months of promotion and excited by this unexpected phenomenon, they tell us how much the film has changed their lives. They also tell us about some scenes they had to fight for and even others that had to be different. And of course, we also talked to them about that highly anticipated sequel that Netflix hasn’t announced yet.
In case the continuation K-POP WarriorsDo you have a predetermined timeline for when the script will be ready, release date, etc.?
AC – No. We are waiting. I enjoy these moments of traveling, meeting people…
MK – People just want us to get to work. We want to hang out and enjoy the moment, guys. Relax. We just launched on Fortnite and now I can’t even play it. It’s killing me.
Accurate. How do you experience this moment of madness, a global phenomenon in the film? Because you’re everywhere in Fortnite…
MK – Well we’re not in Fortnite, I wish we were [lo están los personajes]. Yes, it’s great to see how a film surprises us every day. I had no idea that the characters we created would end up in Fortnite and that one day we would be able to play with them. This is crazy.
AC – Halloween is going to be crazy. I can’t wait. I’m going to walk around my neighborhood and take pictures of other people’s children.
MK – Yes, it was a lot of fun. We want to enjoy it as much as possible. We have traveled a lot, so we enjoy it in different parts of the world. It was very interesting.
AC – At the animation schools, it was incredible to see how excited everyone was. This is very nice, because at that time we were also students and were very excited about the coolest new products that were coming out.
Alternative scenes K-POP Warriors
One of the coolest things, especially in animation, is being able to see discarded scenes, character designs, and other things that were left out. It’s like seeing alternative versions of history. Is there an alternative scene in K-POP Warriors What would you particularly like?
MK – I don’t think we have anything like that.
AC – No, actually nothing related to this story. I think we actually played around with those 86 minutes or something to make sure we didn’t miss anything important in the film due to time constraints. Of course, there are things that we would have given more space to and all that, but overall it feels complete.
MK – Because we didn’t leave any part of the film until we were 100% satisfied with it. There are things we had to cut, scenes that didn’t work, but we didn’t feel like we “really wanted them there.”
AC – The film says it all.
MK – Yes, the film tells you, “No, thank you.” He tells you what he needs and becomes your teacher. So we are pleased with the result.
AC – Well there is a version Abby Saja at the end – in a mesh shirt and without a jacket. It’s incredible, but no one has ever seen this.
MK – We used to do animation reviews where they’d show us animation with guys with their shirts off, and we’d say, “You’re doing this on purpose. You’re doing this on purpose so that we’ll approve of it. We know what you’re trying to do.”
Conversely, is there a scene or something that you almost gave up on and that you finally decided should be there that you fought for?
MK – I think the bathhouse has always been like this. Some did not understand what the point of the children’s film was, why we were going to the bathhouse. But it was something I wanted to include. It’s very authentic and something from my memories of growing up in Korea that I wanted to show.
AC – Moreover, without a doubt, this is a rather bold choice, which Rumi finds himself in the dark night of the soul and wants to sacrifice himself. We had to work until we got to this point. Not to create a dramatic moment, but because we felt that if we really Rumi That’s right, if she’s such a strong person and such a determined warrior, that’s what she would want to do. And the studio was slow to accept it, but I’m glad they did. But yes, we had to fight a lot for this.
Consequences of great global success
In all this whirlwind of events that happened to you and K-POP Warriors – being the most watched movie on Netflix, most streamed songs, Fortnite, etc. – is there anything you’re particularly excited about on a personal level?
MK – I think it happened very quickly for me. And then, over the course of a few weeks, we had even more real-life idols come on board and help us promote the film. For example, they perform dance tasks and also talk about the movie in their life.
AC – Do you know what it means to be popular?
MK – I was also lucky enough to meet some of my idols. And they really liked it. I mean, this wouldn’t happen in our lifetime, but it’s like this is a big fantasy version of his experience. So it was very nice to hear such positive feedback from our idols. And they also like songs.
Have any of these idols told you that they would like to work with you?
AC – There are definitely no such official conversations, but this is also…
MK – I met some of them while traveling around Korea and so on. And I think a lot of them have acting ambitions. Therefore, when they saw a film dedicated to them, they reacted greatly. They said, “Please, we would like to work together.” You know, there’s a lot of energy and obvious collaboration that can happen.
Is there anyone in particular you would like to collaborate with?
AC – It’s strange because Lee Byung HunWho’s playing Gwi-Ma In the movie, I couldn’t believe we were going to work with him. It was like one of my dreams, and suddenly it came true. I’m still wondering, “Did this really happen?” “Was I actually on the recording session with him?”
MK – And then it’s very surreal because we see him at events and he sees us and says, “Oh.” And he comes up to us and we’re like, “Wait, what’s going on?” This is very strange.
AC – “Why Brad Pitt Korea treats us as if we were his niece and nephew? This is cool.
Films recommended by directors K-POP Warriors
How K-POP Warriors It was a phenomenon, I want to ask you, what other films or series would you recommend to your fans?
AC – Anything from Bong Joon Ho. Guest This is a wonderful film that united us. This is great.
MK – I don’t know. There are many, but I can’t remember any specific for this movie. Well I guess Sinnersfrom Ryan Cooglerit’s a very similar story and very culturally specific. I was like, “Oh, this is the grown-up version of us. This is great. How did you do this? So yeah, this is something I definitely recommend.”
There is already talk that you might be nominated not only for best animated feature, but also for best film. Are you thinking about this?
AC – Well, now yes. Now yes. You made us do it. I think the whole time we were making the film we talked about how difficult it was. “Why are we trying to do something so difficult?” But then we even talked to our colleagues from the world of animation so that they admitted this to us. And it’s amazing how nice it is. So, who knows. But it’s always nice when you work really hard at your art form and someone else recognizes it.
Source: Hiper Textual
