Sony Pictures CEO Ravi Ahuja has spoken out about the sale of KPop Demon Hunters to Netflix, defending the decision but ultimately expressing some regret. Per Sony’s first-look distribution deal with Netflix, the future megahit was sold to the streamer for a premium of $20 million, plus Netflix paying for production costs.

However, it has become clear that Sony lost a significant amount of money on KPop Demon Hunters when the property is now worth far more. At a Bank of America conference on Thursday, Ahuja said: “It’s K-Pop-themed, very specific film. […] At the time, it made sense. But now you look at the success and think maybe it could have been theatrical.“

However, there is debate whether KPop Demon Hunters would have been such a mᴀssive success in theaters; Netflix later briefly released the movie in cinemas and grossed $19 million based on its pre-established popularity. “It started out on Netflix and then word of mouth made it grow in theatrical – that’s a lot harder to do,” said Ahuja.

“Our mission is to make great content and find the right home. And I think KPop Demon Hunters’ right home was Netflix. Could it have been theatrical? It’s hard to say. It’s possible but I don’t think it’s so obvious,” continued Ahuja. These comments are in light of original animation struggling theatrically in recent years; just this summer, Pixar’s relatively well-reviewed Elio flopped at the box office.

Ahuja further commented on partnerships with Netflix and other streamers, expressing positivity towards seeing clients do well with Sony-produced properties, but still admitting that the company might have wanted this for themselves:

The goal of the deal was to make hits. One great thing about being an independent is we’re happy when our clients do well. […] There’s an ongoing conversation about terms, and not even so much in film or on the TV side, is whether the right terms are being used, whether streamers can actually pay less but get back more rights. And I’ve told all the streamers, we’re very open to that, so we’re having more of those conversations. If you think about KPop Demon Hunters in that light, I think we would always rather bet on ourselves.

What Sony CEO’s Comments Mean For The Future Of KPop Demon Hunters

Ahuja demonstrates that he and other Sony executives understand the power of word of mouth; while pᴀssing off KPop Demon Hunters was a smart business decision when the deal was made in 2021, it is now potentially the beginning of a billion-dollar franchise, and the question everyone is asking is what the sequel will look like, how it will be produced, and distributed.

Ahuja also reiterated that Sony made the movie, though Netflix owns and distributes it: “We made it entirely for them. We participate in the music through Sony Music Publishing.” He also added: “We do all the sequels.” Netflix and Sony are reportedly in negotiations over a KPop Demon Hunters sequel, though Netflix retains the rights to the global phenomenon.

Though Ahuja talks about the matter in a largely positive light, it would appear that Sony does not want to keep making KPop Demon Hunters movies and earning only the premium paid by Netflix while the streamer makes much more. Thus, Sony is likely trying to reach a more beneficial deal for KPop Demon Hunters 2 and beyond.

Our Take On Sony’s KPop Demon Hunters Stance

While many experts admit that Sony made the best choice as a business, there is still a prevailing sentiment that this was a huge miss for them. The goal is to have KPop Demon Hunters co-directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans return for the sequel, and hopefully, fans are not kept waiting too long because of the negotiations happening between Netflix and Sony.

Little is known about these discussions at present, but one thing that the two companies might agree on is that they should release the sequel theatrically, now that streaming has made it a zeitgeist staple. Nonetheless, it doesn’t sound like Sony has completely given up on KPop Demon Hunters yet.