• 《K-POP：猎魔女团》（KPop Demon Hunters）成为网飞（Netflix）名副其实的现象级爆款，本周以2.36亿次观看量刷新平台历史最高纪录，同时凭借四首歌曲同时跻身《公告牌》（Billboard）榜单前十，创下历史纪录。为打造这部现象级影片，索尼影视动画公司（Sony Pictures Animation，以下简称索尼动画）投入1亿美元，但受疫情时期发行协议限制，据称仅能获得2000万美元的收益。对索尼而言，无疑错失了巨大机遇——如今网飞掌控着这个潜在价值高达数十亿美元的IP。
网飞手握现象级爆款，其火爆程度远超所有人预期。动画电影《K-POP：猎魔女团》讲述了K-pop女团兼猎魔者的故事，该片正式成为网飞有史以来观看次数最多的影片，观看量达2.36亿次，打破了此前由《红色通缉令》（Red Notice）保持的2.309亿次观看量的纪录。这部影片自6月20日首映以来，仅用67天便达成这一里程碑，成为网飞票房榜中攀升速度最快的影片之一。
《K-POP：猎魔女团》不仅刷新了流媒体电影的播放纪录：其原声带中的四首歌曲同时跻身公告牌百强单曲榜前十，这在该榜单67年历史中尚属首次。（具体排名如下：《Golden》位居榜首，《Your Idol》位列第四，《Soda Pop》位居第五，《How It's Done》跻身第十名，您要是好奇的话。）上周末，网飞尝试在院线放映该片的“跟唱版”，尽管观众在家中即可在线观看，但在约1700家影院的放映中，该片仍斩获了约1800万至2000万美元的票房。
影片的巨大成功促使网飞与索尼已就续集事宜展开初步洽谈。对网飞而言，这代表着其多年来一直追求的“现象级动画系列”梦想照进现实；但对影片制作方索尼动画而言，情况则更为复杂——这或许代表着好莱坞近年来最重大的“机遇错失”案例之一。
《K-POP：猎魔女团》：现象级作品的诞生历程
据报道，索尼动画为打造《K-POP：猎魔女团》投入了约1亿美元制作预算，此举是对K-Pop文化与超自然冒险题材全球吸引力的一次重大押注。该片由玛吉·康（Maggie Kang）与克里斯·艾伯翰斯（Chris Appelhans）联合执导，讲述了虚构女团Huntr/X在维持偶像事业的同时对抗恶魔的故事，片中还设置了名为Saja Boys的竞争男团——后续剧情走向不难想象。
截至目前，这场创意豪赌以令人意想不到的方式大获成功。影片原声带不仅完美契合剧情，还掀起真正的音乐现象级热潮：其中《Golden》成为第八首登顶公告牌百强单曲榜的K-Pop歌曲，这是自迪士尼电影《魔法满屋》（Encanto）主题曲《We Don’t Talk About Bruno》以来，首支荣登榜首的动画电影歌曲，也是首支由女艺人演唱的冠军单曲。
截至目前，影片热度仍居高不下：《K-POP：猎魔女团》已连续10周稳居网飞电影榜榜首，仅在最新统计的一周内就新增了2540万次观看量。这种长尾热度对网飞原创作品而言极为罕见，更何况该片还是一部源自不知名IP的冷门动画电影。
索尼的协议及获得的收益
显然，《K-POP：猎魔女团》为网飞带来了巨额收益。按常理，索尼作为这部电影的制作方，本应斩获同样丰厚的回报，对吧？然而事实并非如此。尽管投入约1亿美元打造这部全球现象级作品，索尼动画预计只能从这个潜在价值高达数十亿美元的《K-POP：猎魔女团》系列中获得约2000万美元利润——基本上只是整体收益的一小部分。原因是索尼在2021年与网飞达成一项发行协议，该协议旨在确保疫情不确定时期索尼仍能获得回报。
据《Puck》杂志马修·贝洛尼（Matthew Belloni）披露，索尼同意采用“直接上线平台”模式：网飞支付影片制作成本及每部影片最高2000万美元的额外费用，作为交换，网飞保留该影片的全部版权，并且即便影片大获成功，也无需向索尼支付额外的利润分成。这并非索尼为成品影片寻找发行方，而是网飞实质上承担了制作成本，索尼则负责创意创作。
当时该协议颇具合理性：影院在经历疫情停业冲击后，仍处于恢复阶段，动画电影票房疲软，而索尼自身缺乏主流流媒体平台。该协议确保索尼在无需承担院线失利风险的同时，稳获收益。然而，谁都没有料到——甚至网飞高管也未曾预见——《K-POP：猎魔女团》会如此火爆。
要理解网飞从中所获价值之巨大，不妨看看《红色通缉令》对该平台的意义。这部于2021年上映、由巨石强森（Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson）、瑞安·雷诺兹（Ryan Reynolds）和盖尔·加朵（Gal Gadot）主演的动作片，在网飞播放榜上稳居榜首近四年之久，其2.309亿次的观看量成为网飞成功的标杆。
《K-POP：猎魔女团》不仅超越该纪录，还实现了《红色通缉令》未能达成的目标：衍生IP价值。仅其原声带的成功就开辟出大多数网飞原创作品难以触及的收入渠道。需重申：四首歌曲同时跻身公告牌百强单曲榜前十。“跟唱版”院线试验的成功为网飞提供了另一关键数据点（网飞向来痴迷于数据）。在1700家影院上映的首个周末便斩获1800万至2000万美元票房——约为大片上映影院数量的一半——表明观众对该系列影片的集体观影体验存在真实需求。倘若网飞计划拓展线下体验，这无疑是积极信号。
索尼错失的机遇
倘若索尼保留《K-POP：猎魔女团》版权，那么公司本可坐拥价值高达数十亿美元的IP。然而，真正让情况愈发糟糕、甚至堪称残酷讽刺的是——去年九月，索尼首席财务官十时裕树（Hiroki Totoki）在接受《金融时报》采访时坦言：
“无论是游戏、电影还是动漫，我们自主培育的IP并不多。我们缺少处于早期阶段的IP，这正是我们的痛点所在。”
索尼早已承认，除《蜘蛛侠》外，其在打造持久娱乐IP方面困难重重。公司高管承认，亟需更多从早期阶段便着手培育的原创IP——而《K-POP：猎魔女团》恰恰就是这样的作品。如今，索尼只能眼睁睁看着网飞利用该IP开发续集、周边商品等衍生业务。（不过索尼向《财富》杂志表示，公司仍会分享包括专辑销售在内的部分收益，网飞未进一步置评。）
数据更凸显了错失良机的代价。作为参照，据报道网飞曾斥资4.65亿美元购买《宋飞正传》（Seinfeld）的重播权。《K-POP：猎魔女团》作为原创IP，不仅已证明其全球吸引力、影院上映可行性，更催生了真正的音乐爆款。在此背景下，索尼仅能获得的2000万美元收益显得微不足道。
续集初期洽谈与未来展望
网飞与索尼迅速启动续集洽谈就说明了一切。当一个IP能在短短两个月内打破平台纪录、催生冠军单曲并证明其院线需求时，其商业价值不言而喻。网飞意图乘胜追击，而《K-POP：猎魔女团》系列作品蕴藏着巨大潜力。
对索尼而言，续集既是一种肯定，也是一种挫败。工作室证明自身具备打造全球爆款的能力，但财务收益却主要流向网飞。尽管索尼保留制作后续作品的权利，但新协议条款仍需协商——而网飞如今掌握着大部分谈判筹码。
这一事件的启示远超单部影片的范畴。在IP日益成为长期价值驱动力的行业里，“拥有爆款”与“为他人打造爆款”的差距可能以数十亿美元计。未来数年，《K-POP：猎魔女团》可能为网飞带来电影、剧集、消费品及线下体验等多方面收入，而索尼只能继续推进下一个项目，期望好运再次降临。（*）
为撰写本报道，《财富》杂志使用生成式人工智能协助完成初稿。在发布前，编辑已核实信息准确性。
译者：中慧言-王芳
• 《K-POP：猎魔女团》（KPop Demon Hunters）成为网飞（Netflix）名副其实的现象级爆款，本周以2.36亿次观看量刷新平台历史最高纪录，同时凭借四首歌曲同时跻身《公告牌》（Billboard）榜单前十，创下历史纪录。为打造这部现象级影片，索尼影视动画公司（Sony Pictures Animation，以下简称索尼动画）投入1亿美元，但受疫情时期发行协议限制，据称仅能获得2000万美元的收益。对索尼而言，无疑错失了巨大机遇——如今网飞掌控着这个潜在价值高达数十亿美元的IP。
网飞手握现象级爆款，其火爆程度远超所有人预期。动画电影《K-POP：猎魔女团》讲述了K-pop女团兼猎魔者的故事，该片正式成为网飞有史以来观看次数最多的影片，观看量达2.36亿次，打破了此前由《红色通缉令》（Red Notice）保持的2.309亿次观看量的纪录。这部影片自6月20日首映以来，仅用67天便达成这一里程碑，成为网飞票房榜中攀升速度最快的影片之一。
《K-POP：猎魔女团》不仅刷新了流媒体电影的播放纪录：其原声带中的四首歌曲同时跻身公告牌百强单曲榜前十，这在该榜单67年历史中尚属首次。（具体排名如下：《Golden》位居榜首，《Your Idol》位列第四，《Soda Pop》位居第五，《How It's Done》跻身第十名，您要是好奇的话。）上周末，网飞尝试在院线放映该片的“跟唱版”，尽管观众在家中即可在线观看，但在约1700家影院的放映中，该片仍斩获了约1800万至2000万美元的票房。
影片的巨大成功促使网飞与索尼已就续集事宜展开初步洽谈。对网飞而言，这代表着其多年来一直追求的“现象级动画系列”梦想照进现实；但对影片制作方索尼动画而言，情况则更为复杂——这或许代表着好莱坞近年来最重大的“机遇错失”案例之一。
《K-POP：猎魔女团》：现象级作品的诞生历程
据报道，索尼动画为打造《K-POP：猎魔女团》投入了约1亿美元制作预算，此举是对K-Pop文化与超自然冒险题材全球吸引力的一次重大押注。该片由玛吉·康（Maggie Kang）与克里斯·艾伯翰斯（Chris Appelhans）联合执导，讲述了虚构女团Huntr/X在维持偶像事业的同时对抗恶魔的故事，片中还设置了名为Saja Boys的竞争男团——后续剧情走向不难想象。
截至目前，这场创意豪赌以令人意想不到的方式大获成功。影片原声带不仅完美契合剧情，还掀起真正的音乐现象级热潮：其中《Golden》成为第八首登顶公告牌百强单曲榜的K-Pop歌曲，这是自迪士尼电影《魔法满屋》（Encanto）主题曲《We Don’t Talk About Bruno》以来，首支荣登榜首的动画电影歌曲，也是首支由女艺人演唱的冠军单曲。
截至目前，影片热度仍居高不下：《K-POP：猎魔女团》已连续10周稳居网飞电影榜榜首，仅在最新统计的一周内就新增了2540万次观看量。这种长尾热度对网飞原创作品而言极为罕见，更何况该片还是一部源自不知名IP的冷门动画电影。
索尼的协议及获得的收益
显然，《K-POP：猎魔女团》为网飞带来了巨额收益。按常理，索尼作为这部电影的制作方，本应斩获同样丰厚的回报，对吧？然而事实并非如此。尽管投入约1亿美元打造这部全球现象级作品，索尼动画预计只能从这个潜在价值高达数十亿美元的《K-POP：猎魔女团》系列中获得约2000万美元利润——基本上只是整体收益的一小部分。原因是索尼在2021年与网飞达成一项发行协议，该协议旨在确保疫情不确定时期索尼仍能获得回报。
据《Puck》杂志马修·贝洛尼（Matthew Belloni）披露，索尼同意采用“直接上线平台”模式：网飞支付影片制作成本及每部影片最高2000万美元的额外费用，作为交换，网飞保留该影片的全部版权，并且即便影片大获成功，也无需向索尼支付额外的利润分成。这并非索尼为成品影片寻找发行方，而是网飞实质上承担了制作成本，索尼则负责创意创作。
当时该协议颇具合理性：影院在经历疫情停业冲击后，仍处于恢复阶段，动画电影票房疲软，而索尼自身缺乏主流流媒体平台。该协议确保索尼在无需承担院线失利风险的同时，稳获收益。然而，谁都没有料到——甚至网飞高管也未曾预见——《K-POP：猎魔女团》会如此火爆。
要理解网飞从中所获价值之巨大，不妨看看《红色通缉令》对该平台的意义。这部于2021年上映、由巨石强森（Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson）、瑞安·雷诺兹（Ryan Reynolds）和盖尔·加朵（Gal Gadot）主演的动作片，在网飞播放榜上稳居榜首近四年之久，其2.309亿次的观看量成为网飞成功的标杆。
《K-POP：猎魔女团》不仅超越该纪录，还实现了《红色通缉令》未能达成的目标：衍生IP价值。仅其原声带的成功就开辟出大多数网飞原创作品难以触及的收入渠道。需重申：四首歌曲同时跻身公告牌百强单曲榜前十。“跟唱版”院线试验的成功为网飞提供了另一关键数据点（网飞向来痴迷于数据）。在1700家影院上映的首个周末便斩获1800万至2000万美元票房——约为大片上映影院数量的一半——表明观众对该系列影片的集体观影体验存在真实需求。倘若网飞计划拓展线下体验，这无疑是积极信号。
索尼错失的机遇
倘若索尼保留《K-POP：猎魔女团》版权，那么公司本可坐拥价值高达数十亿美元的IP。然而，真正让情况愈发糟糕、甚至堪称残酷讽刺的是——去年九月，索尼首席财务官十时裕树（Hiroki Totoki）在接受《金融时报》采访时坦言：
“无论是游戏、电影还是动漫，我们自主培育的IP并不多。我们缺少处于早期阶段的IP，这正是我们的痛点所在。”
索尼早已承认，除《蜘蛛侠》外，其在打造持久娱乐IP方面困难重重。公司高管承认，亟需更多从早期阶段便着手培育的原创IP——而《K-POP：猎魔女团》恰恰就是这样的作品。如今，索尼只能眼睁睁看着网飞利用该IP开发续集、周边商品等衍生业务。（不过索尼向《财富》杂志表示，公司仍会分享包括专辑销售在内的部分收益，网飞未进一步置评。）
数据更凸显了错失良机的代价。作为参照，据报道网飞曾斥资4.65亿美元购买《宋飞正传》（Seinfeld）的重播权。《K-POP：猎魔女团》作为原创IP，不仅已证明其全球吸引力、影院上映可行性，更催生了真正的音乐爆款。在此背景下，索尼仅能获得的2000万美元收益显得微不足道。
续集初期洽谈与未来展望
网飞与索尼迅速启动续集洽谈就说明了一切。当一个IP能在短短两个月内打破平台纪录、催生冠军单曲并证明其院线需求时，其商业价值不言而喻。网飞意图乘胜追击，而《K-POP：猎魔女团》系列作品蕴藏着巨大潜力。
对索尼而言，续集既是一种肯定，也是一种挫败。工作室证明自身具备打造全球爆款的能力，但财务收益却主要流向网飞。尽管索尼保留制作后续作品的权利，但新协议条款仍需协商——而网飞如今掌握着大部分谈判筹码。
这一事件的启示远超单部影片的范畴。在IP日益成为长期价值驱动力的行业里，“拥有爆款”与“为他人打造爆款”的差距可能以数十亿美元计。未来数年，《K-POP：猎魔女团》可能为网飞带来电影、剧集、消费品及线下体验等多方面收入，而索尼只能继续推进下一个项目，期望好运再次降临。（*）
为撰写本报道，《财富》杂志使用生成式人工智能协助完成初稿。在发布前，编辑已核实信息准确性。
译者：中慧言-王芳
• KPop Demon Hunters is a bona fide megahit for Netflix, this week becoming its most-watched movie ever with 236 million views, while making Billboard history with four simultaneous top 10 hits. Sony Pictures Animation, which spent $100 million creating the phenomenon, will reportedly net only $20 million owing to a pandemic-era distribution deal. The outcome represents a massive missed opportunity for Sony, as Netflix now controls what could become a multibillion-dollar franchise.
Netflix has a monster hit on its hands, and it’s not what anyone expected. KPop Demon Hunters, an animated film about a K-pop girl group who are also demon hunters, has officially become Netflix’s most-watched movie ever with 236 million views, dethroning the previous record-holder Red Notice and its 230.9 million views. The milestone comes just 67 days after the film’s June 20 debut, making it one of the fastest climbs to the top of Netflix’s all-time charts.
KPop Demon Hunters isn’t just breaking movie-streaming records: Four songs from its soundtrack are currently sitting in the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 at the same time, something that has actually never happened in the chart’s 67-year history. (“Golden” holds the No. 1 spot, “Your Idol” sits at No. 4, “Soda Pop” is at No. 5, and “How It’s Done” landed at No. 10, since you asked.) And when Netflix decided to test the waters with a sing-along theatrical release last weekend, the film earned an estimated $18 million to $20 million at the box office across roughly 1,700 theaters, despite being available to stream at home.
The success has been so overwhelming Netflix and Sony are already in early talks for a sequel. For Netflix, this represents the kind of breakout animated franchise the company has been chasing for years. But for Sony Pictures Animation, which created the film, the story is more complicated—and potentially represents one of the biggest missed opportunities in recent Hollywood history.
The making of the KPop Demon Hunters phenomenon
Sony Pictures Animation developed KPop Demon Hunters with a reported production budget of around $100 million, positioning it as a significant bet on the global appeal of both K-pop culture and supernatural adventure. Directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, the film follows the fictional girl group Huntr/X as they battle demons while maintaining their pop-star careers. There’s a rival boy band called Saja Boys … you can imagine where this is going.
The creative gamble, so far, has paid off in surprising ways. The film’s soundtrack didn’t just complement the story—it became a genuine musical phenomenon, with “Golden” becoming the eighth K-pop song to hit No. 1 on the Hot 100, the first time a song from an animated movie reached that spot since “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Disney’s Encanto, and the first to feature female artists.
So far, the film has sustained its momentum. KPop Demon Hunters has now spent 10 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Netflix’s movie charts, adding 25.4 million views in just the most recent week tracked. That kind of staying power is rare for any Netflix original, let alone an obscure animated film that isn’t from an established IP.
Sony’s deal—and what it walked away with
Obviously, KPop Demon Hunters is massive for Netflix. And Sony actually made the movie, so it should be equally massive for them, too, right? Well, not so much. Despite spending roughly $100 million to create what became a global phenomenon, Sony Pictures is expected to net only about $20 million in profit from what is potentially a billion-dollar franchise in KPop Demon Hunters; basically, a fraction of the upside. The reason lies in a 2021 distribution deal Sony struck with Netflix, designed to guarantee returns during the uncertain pandemic era.
According to Puck’s Matthew Belloni, Sony agreed to a “direct-to-platform” arrangement where Netflix would pay back the film’s production budget plus an additional fee capped at $20 million per project. In exchange, Netflix retained all rights to the property and owes no additional profit participation, even as the film becomes a massive hit. This wasn’t Sony shopping around a finished film; Netflix essentially funded the production while Sony handled the creative work.
At the time, the deal made sense. Theaters were still recovering from pandemic closures, animated films were struggling at the box office, and Sony lacked its own major streaming platform. The arrangement guaranteed Sony would make a profit without risking a theatrical flop. But nobody—not even Netflix executives—predicted KPop Demon Hunters would become as big as it did.
To understand the magnitude of what Netflix acquired, consider what Red Notice represented for the platform. That 2021 action film starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot held Netflix’s top spot for nearly four years, with its 230.9 million views becoming the benchmark for Netflix success.
KPop Demon Hunters blew past that number, but it also demonstrated something Red Notice couldn’t achieve: franchise potential. The film’s soundtrack success alone opens up revenue streams that most Netflix originals can’t touch. A reminder: four simultaneous Billboard top 10 hits. And the success of the theatrical sing-along experiment provides another data point for Netflix (and Netflix loves its data points). Netting $18 million to $20 million in a single weekend across 1,700 theaters—roughly half the number of theaters a blockbuster release would get—suggests real audience demand for communal experiences around the franchise, which is promising if Netflix is looking at expanding into more physical spaces.
The missed opportunity for Sony
Had Sony kept the rights to KPop Demon Hunters, the company would be sitting on something potentially worth billions. But what truly acts as salt in the wound, and perhaps some form of cruel irony, is that last September, Sony’s own chief financial officer, Hiroki Totoki, said this in an interview with the Financial Times:
“Whether it’s for games, films, or anime, we don’t have that much IP that we fostered from the beginning. We’re lacking the early phase [of IP], and that’s an issue for us.”
Sony has been candid about its struggles to develop lasting entertainment franchises beyond Spider-Man. Company executives have acknowledged the studio needs more original intellectual property fostered from the beginning—exactly what KPop Demon Hunters represents. Instead, Sony now watches Netflix leverage the property for sequels, merchandise, and much more. (Sony, for what it’s worth, tells Fortune it will share in some of the profits, including album sales. Netflix offered no further comment.)
The numbers make the missed opportunity even starker. For context, Netflix reportedly paid $465 million to acquire the rights to Seinfeld reruns. KPop Demon Hunters is an original property that has already proved its global appeal, demonstrated theatrical viability, and created genuine music hits. The $20 million Sony will earn looks modest against that backdrop.
Early sequel talks and what’s next
The speed with which Netflix and Sony entered sequel discussions tells its own story. When a property breaks platform records, generates chart-topping music, and proves theatrical demand all within two months, the economics become clear quickly. Netflix wants to strike while the iron’s hot, and there’s a lot of potential for a KPop Demon Hunters universe.
For Sony, the sequel represents both a vindication and frustration. The studio proved it could create a global hit, but the financial upside flows primarily to Netflix. While Sony retains the right to produce future installments, the terms of any new deals remain to be negotiated—and Netflix now holds most of the leverage.
The broader lesson extends beyond this single film. In an industry where intellectual property increasingly drives long-term value, the difference between owning a hit and creating one for someone else can be measured in billions. KPop Demon Hunters will likely generate revenue for Netflix across multiple films, series, consumer products, and live experiences for years to come. Sony, meanwhile, will move on to the next project, hoping lightning strikes twice.
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.