‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Ineligible For BAFTA Film Awards Despite Netflix Appeal
EXCLUSIVE: KPop Demon Hunters took the world by storm this year, becoming near ubiquitous, but the girl band won’t be putting in an appearance at the BAFTA Film Awards. Although the Sony Animation-produced Netflix smash is eligible to vie for Oscars, it has been ruled ineligible by the British Academy after an appeal by Netflix for an exception.
In the U.S., KPop Demon Hunters had a qualifying theatrical run ahead of release on Netflix, but the original UK release was via the streamer on June 20.
I hear Netflix was hoping to secure an exemption to BAFTA rules by submitting the movie following its theatrical release in 264 UK cinemas on August 23 and 24. KPop Demon Hunters later also played 528 UK movie houses across Halloween weekend.
RELATED: ‘KPop Demon Hunters 2’ Eyes 2029 Release
BAFTA rules state that eligible films must have been released theatrically, though in “exceptional circumstances,” and at the Film Committee’s discretion, “a film which has been available to the UK public through other patterns or forms of distribution (e.g. event cinema) may be considered for entry.”
Netflix is understood to have made a formal appeal for the film given its theatrical run, even though that followed the streaming launch by two months. BAFTA’s Film Committee rejected the bid as the release pattern of the film did not meet the eligibility requirements, which also state that eligible titles have “at least 10 commercial screenings in UK for at least seven days in aggregate.” Had Netflix released KPop DH day-and-date with streaming, however, the film would have been eligible, we understand.
Either way, KPop Demon Hunters has seen outsized performance, becoming the most-watched film of all time on Netflix with more than 541M hours viewed worldwide and grossing a estimated $25M domestically as well as recently scoring five Grammy nominations (the soundtrack has gone platinum). The IP is so big that Netflix sealed a deal with Mattel and Hasbro to be global co-master toy licensees for KPop Demon Hunters.
RELATED: ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Duo EJAE And Mark Sonnenblick Break Down Their “Golden” Songwriting Process – Sound & Screen Film
Directed by he Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, the movie follows Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong) and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo), young-adult pop stars in a group called Huntr/x whose ancient demon-slayer lineage has them moonlighting as demon hunters when they aren’t selling out stadiums and topping charts. When their biggest demonic enemy (Lee Byung-hun) encourages the formation of an equally popular K-pop boy band aimed at stealing the souls of their fans, the trio has to fight harder than ever to hold the demons at bay while keeping their friendship intact.
Netflix and Sony are aiming toward a 2029 release for the sequel. No word yet if there’s theatrical on that one.
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