^{Credit: The Studio (Apple TV+), KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix, Sony Pictures Animation)} 

The Studio won nine Emmys over the weekend at the Creative Arts ceremonies. It’s bound to win several more at next week’s Primetime Emmy ceremony, currently leading the odds for Outstanding Comedy Series. It’s easy to see why the industry has embraced this brilliant Hollywood send-up led by Seth Rogen. If you ask many insiders, they’ll tell you just how spot-on - or at least eerily close - the show’s depiction of the movie industry is. Sure, some elements are heightened for satirical purposes, but the scenarios all reflect the real executives, studio heads, and CEOs behind the scenes, who arguably start more fires than they put out.

Of course, not everyone would describe The Studio as accurate. Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group’s CEO and chairman, told Letterboxd that The Studio is “is wonderfully satiric.” However, he believes that there’s only “a kernel of brilliant, blinding truth” in each episode. “Besides that kernel, everything else is horseshit. Maybe some days, but most days we’re not morons.” It’s ironic that Rothman of all people would say this, as Sony arguably made Hollywood’s most bone-headed business decision of the decade: selling KPop Demon Hunters to Netflix.

Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans’ film has become the most-watched original creation in Netflix’s history. This not only includes movies, but shows like Squid Game as well. KPop Demon Hunters has also reached several milestones on the Billboard charts, with a record four songs reaching the Top 10 on the Hot 100. While the film has been an unprecedented hit for Netflix, Sony Pictures Animation produced KPop Demon Hunters. Sony deserves credit for greenlighting the film in the first place. It’s hard to imagine another Hollywood animation studio like Disney taking a swing on a premise like this. Sony’s leadership failed to realize what they had, however.

In 2021, the same year that KPop Demon Hunters was announced, Sony entered an agreement with Netflix, which would allow some of the studio’s films to go directly to streaming. KPop Demon Hunters wound up being one of those titles. At the time, this seemed like a solid deal with the future of theatrical releases uncertain in a post-COVID world. In retrospect, though, this deal allowed Netflix to take a substantial piece of a franchise that Sony could’ve solely controlled. Sony not only relinquished distribution of the film to Netflix, but music and merchandising rights as well. According to Matthew Belloni of Puck, Sony is only earning an estimated $20 million from KPop Demon Hunters.

Sony didn’t give up everything. They still get a portion of the soundtrack sales and retain the rights to produce follow-ups. With a sequel already being discussed, Sony could potentially negotiate a theatrical release with Netflix. Even so, Sony could’ve had the whole pie. Instead, they settled for a sliver. Sony CEO and President Ravi Ahuja has tried to put a positive spin on the Netflix deal, saying, “The goal of the deal was to make hits. One great thing about being an independent is we’re happy when our clients do well. So they did well, right?” At the same time, Ahuja said, “now you look at the success and think maybe it could have been theatrical.”

Some might argue that while KPop Demon Hunters was a streaming sensation, it wouldn’t have found a theatrical audience. Not only was it an original IP, but one with - gasp - three female leads! Female-centric movies never sell! To steal a line from Tom Rothman, that’s horseshit. Case in point, the sing-along version of KPop Demon Hunters received a weekend-long theatrical release in August. Despite already being on Netflix for two months, the film opened #1 at the box office, grossing an estimated $19.2 million. That’s almost as much as Sony got from their Netflix deal.

Granted, the sing-along version had a built-in audience. Had KPop Demon Hunters gone to theaters first, it might not have been an instant smash. Studios forget that movies can have legs at the box office, however. Just as KPop Demon Hunters became a streaming hit through positive word-of-mouth, the same could be applied to the box office. Talking about word of mouth, Ahuja stated, “In theatrical, that’s a lot harder to do.” Sleeper hits like Elemental, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and Sony’s own Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse would disagree. We’ll never know how much KPop Demon Hunters could’ve made if it had been given the theatrical rollout upfront. Considering that the film only cost about $100 million to produce, though, Sony had little to lose on a theatrical release.

This move only feels more misguided considering what Sony did release theatrically this year so far: Karate Kid: Legends, 28 Years Later, and I Know What You Did Last Summer, the latter of which ironically stars Chase Sui Wonders of The Studio. While those films all did fine financially, none of them lit up the box office like KPop Demon Hunters could’ve. In fact, KPop made more with its singalong version than I Know What You Did Last Summer grossed during its opening weekend. Karate Kid, 28 Years, and IKWYDLS might’ve seemed like safer theatrical releases, being part of established brands. As Book of Life director Jorge R. Gutierrez said, though, “All giant IPs, say it with me now, start out as originals. TAKE THE SWING!!!”

Like most Hollywood studios, Sony has become over-reliant on established IPs that people are losing interest in. Sony's Spider-Man Universe is the most infamous example. While the Venom trilogy made money because Venom was in the title, Kraven the Hunter, Madam Web, and Morbius were monumental bombs. The latter bombed in theaters twice! Their failure can be attributed to poor filmmaking, inept studio management, and a dying trend. According to Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra, though, “These are not terrible films. They were just destroyed by the critics in the press, for some reason.”

Doesn’t that sound like something that Bryan Cranston’s character on The Studio would say? Cranston won an Emmy for his performance as Griffin Mill, a studio CEO who will gladly throw Martin Scorsese under the bus as long as his animated Kool-Aid movie gets made. Griffin may be an extreme caricature, but there’s more than a kernel of truth to him. He represents every CEO who stresses the bottom line, prioritizes shareholders over audiences, and will always make the safe choice rather than take a gamble like KPop Demon Hunters. In fact, Sony’s loss and Netflix’s gain sounds like something that would happen on The Studio, right down to Rothman being the only one not laughing.

If one CEO emerges from The Studio looking competent, it’s Ted Sarandos of Netflix. At the Golden Globes, Netflix projects keep winning, with Sarandos being thanked in every speech. When Rogen encounters the Netflix CEO in the bathroom, Sarandos tells him that his employees are contractually obligated to thank him in acceptance speeches. “Otherwise, why in the world would they possibly thank us? We’re bean counters, they’re artists.” Say what you will about Netflix, its business practices, and effect on the industry, but this cameo gave me a newfound respect for Sarandos.

KPop Demon Hunters is expected to pick up more than a few prizes this upcoming awards season. It could feasibly take home the Oscars for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Golden.” If the filmmakers and songwriters find themselves on stage, they’ll surely thank the artists at Sony Pictures Animation. Netflix will also likely get a shout-out for distributing the film and mounting an awards campaign. Maybe even Sal Saperstein will get a random name drop. If three individuals don’t need to be singled out, though, it’s Tom Rothman, Ravi Ahuja, and Tony Vinciquerra. That is, unless it’s in somebody’s contract that they have to be thanked.

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1 and 2. Available Now!