Producing Various Content Using K-pop IP
Upcoming Films and Competition Shows
New Groups Debuting on the Global Stage
The theme song "Golden" from the Netflix animated film "K-pop Demon Hunters" (Kedeheon) has topped pop charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom, fueling an international Kedeheon phenomenon and bringing positive momentum to the domestic entertainment industry. Entertainment companies are leveraging the Kedeheon craze as an opportunity to showcase a variety of content using K-pop-related intellectual property (IP) and to enhance their global recognition.
According to the entertainment industry on August 13, domestic companies are expanding their content offerings with a focus on K-pop. HYBE's U.S. subsidiary, HYBE America, has partnered with major Hollywood film studio Paramount Pictures to produce a film centered on K-pop. The movie tells the story of a Korean-American girl who participates in an audition TV program to become the next-generation K-pop girl group, despite her family's opposition. The film is aiming for a theatrical release in February 2027 and is scheduled to begin filming entirely on location in Korea around mid-September this year. Yoo Ji-young, who played the youngest "Joy" in Kedeheon’s Huntress group, and singer Eric Nam have been cast as leads. Notably, this will be the first time a major Hollywood studio will shoot an entire film in Korea.
HYBE's Korean-American joint venture girl group "Cat's Eye," which is active in the U.S., is also seeing results as its localization strategy pays off. Songs released by Cat's Eye have surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify, the world's largest music streaming platform. The track "Gabriella" from Cat's Eye's second EP "Beautiful Chaos," released on July 1, entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 94, marking the second consecutive entry for the group following "Nali," released in April. Cat's Eye, which debuted in June last year, achieved these results in just over a year since their debut.
Cat's Eye also ranked 12th in Bloomberg's "Pop Star Power Ranking," which is calculated monthly by combining live performance revenue, ticket sales, album sales, digital streaming, growth in Instagram and TikTok followers, and YouTube views. HYBE reported an operating profit of 65.9 billion won and revenue of 705.7 billion won in the second quarter of this year, up 29.5% and 10.2% year-on-year, respectively. With various artist tours scheduled for the second half of the year, the positive performance in the concert sector is expected to continue. Hwang Ji-won, a researcher at iM Securities, said, "Cat's Eye's rapid monetization is highly significant as it increases the visibility of success for North American and Latin American localized groups," adding, "With the start of this North American tour, meaningful profit contribution is expected to begin in earnest."
Apple TV+ will launch the music competition series "K-popd" on Apple TV Plus starting August 29. CJ ENM co-produced K-popd, where K-pop artists and overseas singers will form teams and reinterpret each other's hit songs on stage. Miky Lee, Vice Chairwoman of CJ Group, is listed as one of the executive producers. Shin Hyungkwan, Head of Music Content at CJ ENM, and Hong Junki, Head of Strategic Initiatives, both of whom have produced K-pop variety shows and music channel Mnet content, also participated. CJ ENM, apparently mindful that the main characters of Kedeheon are Korean Americans, recently launched "First Light Storyhouse," a program supporting content development by Asian creators. The company plans to participate as an investor and producer in the early stages of content development to help bring the stories of Asian creators to a global audience.
Key, a member of SHINee who reportedly served as a reference for a Kedeheon character, recently made a comeback with a full-length album titled "Hunter" under SM Entertainment. Titan Content, an agency founded by former SM Entertainment executives, announced the debut of the multinational seven-member girl group "At Heart" and the production of the audition-based reality program "K-pop Dreams."
An industry insider from the domestic entertainment sector commented, "With K-pop and K-dramas already enjoying great popularity and success in the global market, if similar success stories continue to emerge in other fields, we expect a positive ripple effect across all K-content."
Domestic music streaming platforms are also benefiting from the popularity of the K-pop Demon Hunters original soundtrack (OST). As of August 12, "Golden" held the number one spot on the real-time charts of major domestic music streaming platforms such as Melon, Genie Music, and YouTube Music. A representative from the domestic music industry stated, "From a platform perspective, hit content like 'Golden' leads to an increase in user numbers, which is a positive trend." However, the representative also noted, "It is unfortunate that, since both the production company and distributor of the K-pop Demon Hunters OST are American companies, foreign companies are profiting from K-pop-themed content."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
