Producer explains how YouTube and 20-year-olds are a key part to the “KPop Demon Hunters” success

KPop Demon Hunters is one of — if not the — biggest movie of 2025. The film was co-directed by Maggie Kang, who has previously been involved with flicks like The Lego Ninjago Movie and Kung Fu Panda 3.

KPop Demon Hunters‘ story artist shares his wisdom

In a viral TikTok discussing his time on the movie, he shared some insight into how and why the film has become such a hit compared to the likes of The Bad Guys 2 and Elio.

“I think the issue is that kids only watch shows where they’re seeing people talk about it on YouTube, and the people talking about it on YouTube are in their 20s,” he explained. “So if you’re developing a movie, you kind of have to think about people in their 20s first before the kids will even hear of the movie. So things like anime, Stranger Things, you have to sort of shoot for that age or demographic, and you have to get the people in their 20s excited so they’re talking about it, and then the kids will see that.”

He continued: “So if I was a development exec at Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, wherever, I’d be asking myself, ‘Does this property look like it’s gonna appeal to people in their 20s, or does it look like it’s for kids? The only exception to this is preschool stuff, because the parent actually looks at what looks like it’s for babies.”

@radsechrist #kpopdemonhunters ♬ Golden – HUNTR/X & EJAE & AUDREY NUNA & REI AMI & KPop Demon Hunters Cast

However, most commenters didn’t exactly agree with Sechrist. “Omg, how are you so far from the mark?” one asked. “The story has all the archetypal hero’s journey beats, the songs are genuinely insanely good, the animation is top-notch, and the characters are serviceable in that they are relatable.”

In response to several comments, the artist wrote the same thing: “I’ve been at studios where execs are literally just like, ‘Add some songs and fart jokes, you don’t even need to try and make it good, it’s for kids.’”

“That may help mass adoption, but at the end of the day it’s just good writing,” another commenter added. “Good meaning clever, clear personalities, relatable struggles, jokes that land, and not knowing for sure how things will turn out, or at least what the path will be to get there. I have only walked out of two movies in my life, but I would have walked out of Elio after the first 30 minutes if my kid wasn’t with me. The writing was so amateurish.”

However, a minority of other commenters actually agreed with Sechrist: “This is such a great observation,” a commenter said.

“My 7yo only wanted to watch Elio because he saw the trailer on YT. I tried to get him to watch KPop Demon Hunters, but he said: ‘it looks weird’ until…he saw people talking about it on YouTube and Roblox.”