Sony Pictures CEO Ravi Ahuja says that the sale of KPop Demon Hunters to Netflix was the right decision for the studio, even as he acknowledged that in hindsight, it is possible that the animated musical could have become a theatrical franchise for Sony.
Speaking at a Bank of America conference Thursday, Ahuja was asked by analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich whether KPop Demon Hunters could have worked in theaters for Sony.
“This is the question we ask ourselves, everyone is asking us too. You know, I don’t know. Obviously in hindsight it is such a big hit you think maybe it could’ve,” Ahuja said.
“It was during the pandemic, it’s k-pop themed, it was a very specific film, Netflix paid the whole cost plus a profit premium to us,” Ahuja added, explaining why the studio made the decision it did. “At the time it made sense, but in hindsight you think maybe it could’ve been theatrical, and in fact Netflix took it to theaters.”
Indeed, in addition to being Netflix’s biggest movie yet, Netflix brought a singalong version to theaters for one weekend, generating nearly $20 million in box office despite not playing in any AMC theaters.
That does not mean that Sony would have been able to do the same thing.
“It started out on Netflix, and word of mouth made it grow. In theatrical that is a lot harder to do,” Ahuja said, noting that theatrical movies need to make a cultural impact fast. “I think it was in the right home. I think KPop Demon Hunters’ right home was Netflix, but year, it is an interesting question, could it have been theatrical? It is hard to say.”
He added that while Sony Music does have some music rights, and that while Sony Pictures will produce any sequels (those talks are already beginning), Netflix owns the franchise, including merchandise rights.
Ahuja said that he is “optimistic” about the future of the box office, noting next year’s Spider Man and Jumanji movies, though breaking through will remain tough.
“The theatrical bar, what is the bar you have to get over to make it theatrical … and I think for superhero movies the bar was relatively low,” Ahuja said of the state of franchise films. “Pretty much all of them would do incredible business, but now even superhero movies have to have originality, something different, an emotional connection.”
“Things have to be cultural events, they have to be really appealing to some audience,” he added.
The exec also laid out a vision for Sony under his leadership, focusing on “consistent, stable growth over time,” while exploring new areas.
That includes experiential entertainment through the Alamo Drafthouse, which he noted is still “relatively under-penetrated in big cities.”
“Our aspiration is not to be huge in theatrical distribution,” he added, instead leaning on that team to help forge direct consumer ties.
And he is thinking about digital media.
“No media company has quite figure out how to work with the so-called creator economy, but we spend time on that, and hopefully we find a path there,” he said.
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