Sony Pictures Animation Discussion

[Smiles2us]

^ That was rather timely. The generational gap and the read as a whole was very interesting  "I like it better when it was animated."  Of course she meant CGI style.   Kids today...

Lol! It was exceedingly timely!  Lol! You almost have me wondering if Nostra was the writer himself.   Hahaha! That was an interesting read though.

[Anyponedrawn]

This one flew under the radar but seems to be doing quite well on Netflix since it only released there.

KPop Demon Hunters. KPop Demon Hunters was released on June 20, 2025, on Netflix, to positive reviews, with praise for its animation, visual style, voice acting, humor, and music. The film was animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks in both its Vancouver and Montreal facilities with Josh Beveridge as the head of character animation.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 37 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Animated with infectious energy and vibrant colors, KPop Demon Hunters is jaunty family entertainment with a terrific soundtrack to boot." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

[Silverwing]

Sony getting screwed by not having released this as a feature length movie it seems.  Sony screwed this one up.  They had a big franchise on their hands, but now Netflix owns it.  Oops.

Streaming Deal Costs Sony As ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Nears Netflix’s Top Spot

According to a new report from Puck, Sony Pictures is watching from the sidelines as one of the summer’s biggest cultural phenomena unfolds. KPop Demon Hunters, an anime-style musical about a K-pop girl group that doubles as a team of monster fighters, has become a runaway hit on Netflix, yet the studio that developed and produced it is seeing little of the upside.

The film, released in June, is now Netflix’s No. 2 most-watched English-language movie of all time, with more than 184 million views and counting. It will easily surpass Red Notice as the streamer’s top-performing original by the time its 91-day release window – Netflix’s metric for tracking viewership info – has passed. The soundtrack has also exploded, with seven songs in Spotify’s global Top 50 and the single “Golden” topping the Billboard Hot 100.

Despite conceiving and financing the project through Sony Pictures Animation, the studio sold distribution rights to Netflix under a 2021 output deal. According to Puck’s Matthew Belloni, that agreement capped Sony’s earnings at roughly $20 million, a fraction of what a theatrical release or long-term franchise ownership might have generated. Netflix, meanwhile, controls sequels, spinoffs, and the lucrative music tie-ins, though Sony retains the right to produce follow-up films.

The decision reflects the uncertainty of the pandemic era, when theaters were shuttered and Sony, lacking its own streaming service, leaned on Netflix as a guaranteed buyer. At the time, licensing titles like The Mitchells vs. the Machines and Greyhound was seen as a wise move. But with the benefit of hindsight, the runaway success of KPop Demon Hunters underscores the long-term revenue potential the studio left on the table.

Whether the film would have been as successful in theaters remains a hotly debated question in industry circles. Most original animated titles have struggled at the box office post-COVID, and many insiders doubt an anime-inspired musical would have found a broad audience. Yet Netflix’s algorithm, viral chatter, a red-hot soundtrack, and the global reach of K-pop fandom combined to turn the film into the streamer’s first true animated blockbuster.

As Belloni notes, Netflix now owns not just a hit movie but an emerging franchise, one that could spawn sequels, merchandise, and a long tail of streaming and music revenue. Sony, meanwhile, is left to console itself with limited rights and the hope that future installments will bring greater rewards.

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/streaming-deal-costs-sony-kpop-demon-hunters-netflixs-251798.html

[Soda]

Big L for Sony it seems. 

[NostradamusTheSeer]

There's talk of a sequel to the Garfield movie. No details yet, though Chris Pratt is set to reprise the lead role. I'd like to see this return more to its roots with the fat, finicky orange feline. You think a return for Binky The Clown would be too much to hope for?  I heard they sold him to Hanna-Barbera for two funny dogs and a duck to be named later. 

...Okay, does this this cat food tower looks a tad, um, phallic to anyone else?     :'(

[Kiwi]

Oh my gosh.  That is NOT RIGHT.  How did that cat-food tower pass to be released by the public?

[Silverwing]

A K-Pop Demon Hunters sequel, directed by Maggie Kang, and Chris Appelhans, is in on-going production it seems at Sony right now. (releasing TBD 2029)

[MasterXtreme]

New animated film by Sony Animation.  GOAT.  A basketball film.

[Anyponedrawn]

Credit to the original idea, but this just doesn't interest me in the slightest.  That Sony animation style is getting old too. Everything they make does it since Spiderman movie.