KPop Demon Hunters' directors stand to make an absolute fortune from the sequel

A rare case of the creatives winning big Hollywood journo Matthew Belloni has unearthed details of the deal Netflix struck for the sequel to KPop Demon Hunters, and it turns out the movie's directors and co-writers, Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, are set for a massive payday. Netflix will pay the pair about $50 million between them over five years, and grant them shares of merchandising and music revenue, too. Nobody knew that KPop Demon Hunters would be the massive phenomenon it turned out to be. This meant that Netflix got it at a bargain price, paying production studio Sony Pictures Animation a modest $20 million for the rights. But it also meant that neither Sony nor Netflix had thought to put options for a sequel into Kang and Appelhans' contracts, giving them huge leverage when negotiations started for the new movie. Kang and Appelhans are exclusive to Netflix for the next five years as they make the film, and together will be paid a guaranteed $10 million a year over that time. Their share of merchandising sales starts now — just in time for that McDonald's collab — and they'll get a royalty share on music for the sequel. (Belloni says "a murderer’s row of K-pop artists" i