The KPop Demon Hunters stars are in high demand, and one of them has just joined a promising new thriller, meaning she will be reuniting with another. The rising popularity of K-pop was only accelerated by the record-breaking success of KPop Demon Hunters, the animated fantasy musical adventure, which is returning to theaters this Halloween weekend by popular demand.
Now, the forthcoming live-action movie Perfect Girl is taking a page out of KPop Demon Hunters’ book, as it will feature original songs, as well as Mira voice actor May Hong in a lead role. Arden Cho, the voice of KPop Demon Hunters’ Rumi, was previously announced as part of the cast, as well as Adeline Rudolph, John Kim, and international K-pop star Jeon Somi.
Announcing Hong’s casting, Deadline also reported that Peter Lee Jae Yoon, Samantha Cochran, AC Bonifacio, Ally, plus additional K-pop stars Nancy from Momoland, Siyoon from Billie, and Chaerin from Cherry Bullet, have joined the cast. Perfect Girl is described as “Scream meets Black Swan,” focusing on a cutthroat competition for four open spots in a K-pop group.
Per Deadline, Perfect Girl‘s synopsis sets it up as a slasher combined with a musical drama:
With only four spots available in the band and the final cut a week away, the competition is off the charts. When a talented and mysterious new girl is introduced at the last minute, things start to get strange — girls are being hunted and attacked one by one, but who is responsible for the carnage, and more importantly…who will make the final cut?
The callback to the Oscar-nominated thriller Black Swan is fitting, as Darren Aronofsky’s work starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis focuses on the competition among a company of ballet dancers who vie for the lead role in Swan Lake, a conflict that admittedly only seems to turn violent because of the deteriorating mental state of the protagonist.
Perfect Girl will be an English-language film directed by Hong Won-ki, founder of the Korean production company Zanybros, from a Blacklist script written by Lynn Q. Yu. Adren Cho is also signed on as a producer, with the companies behind the new movie including Badlands, Thunder Road, and Desert Bloom.
Perfect Girl is currently filming in Thailand, and producer Scott Strauss praises the director’s vision: “Director Hong has put together a dream international cast to bring to life his uniquely fun vision for a horror movie set against the backdrop of K-Pop.” The horror-thriller will also feature six original songs, including one from Jeon Somi.
Jeon happens to be signed with The Black Label, the studio behind KPop Demon Hunters’ soundtrack. Perfect Girl sounds like exactly what audiences want right now, combining more electric K-pop music with a thrilling original plot. It would be especially satisfying to see it follow in the footsteps of Black Swan and KPop Demon Hunters’ awards success, as the latter will likely win Best Original Feature next year.