Sony Missed Out Big: ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Could Be a Billion-Dollar Franchise, But They’re Set to Make Only $20M

Sony Pictures spent over $100 million to develop and produce KPop Demon Hunters, an animated movie about a K-pop trio who secretly fight monsters. But instead of releasing it in theaters, the studio sold the rights to Netflix. That decision is now looking like a huge missed opportunity for Sony.

The film came out on Netflix in June and quickly became a massive hit. It’s now the second most popular Netflix film of all time. Netflix reports that KPop Demon Hunters had another 25.9 million views in just one week, and the streaming service believes it could soon become the most-watched original movie on the platform.

The movie is already shaping up to be a billion-dollar franchise. Plans for sequels, spin-offs, merchandise, and music tie-ins are underway. The soundtrack, featuring both the fictional band HUNTR/X and real-life K-pop group Twice, is doing incredibly well. One song, Golden, recently hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Sony will only make about $20 million from the deal, according Matt Belloni with it. It’s not nothing, but it’s far less than the money the studio could have earned if the movie had been released in theaters.

The reason Sony sold the movie to Netflix goes back to 2021, when the studio signed a big deal with the streamer. Sony agreed to give Netflix first look at certain films, including animation projects. Netflix would finance and release these films directly on its platform, paying Sony a fixed fee, usually 25% of the production budget, capped at $20 million per movie.

Back then, the deal made sense. Theaters were still struggling after the pandemic, and Sony didn’t have its own streaming platform. The guaranteed payment from Netflix helped keep the studio’s money flowing and avoided layoffs. Sony Pictures Animation head Tom Rothman chose the safer path, and at the time, no one could have predicted just how big KPop Demon Hunters would become.

Some experts say the movie might not have been a massive hit in theaters anyway. Animated films with an edgy, anime-style look often don’t connect with a broad U.S. audience. But the film’s slow start on Netflix quickly turned into a cultural phenomenon thanks to viral chatter, music popularity, and the platform’s algorithm. Younger viewers adopted it as their own and kept rewatching.

Even though Sony produced the film, Netflix had full control of the release. The studio will only earn more if it produces sequels or spin-offs for Netflix or manages to release the film in China, where Netflix doesn’t operate. John Mass, president of Content Partners, told me, “It’s impossible to put a value on this franchise… it may end up being comparable to the Disney animated hits.”

Netflix is also testing the movie in theaters with a two-day sing-along event, but Sony won’t see any box office revenue from it. The company created a blockbuster, but most of the profits, and cultural influence, are going to the streaming giant.

In short, Sony made one of the summer’s biggest hits, but Netflix is the one cashing in. The movie cost over $100 million to make, became the second most popular Netflix film ever, is likely to become a billion-dollar franchise, and even produced a Billboard-topping song. Sony might have a hit, but Netflix is the one owning the gold.

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