‘KPop Demon Hunters’ director react to Novak Djokovic doing ‘Soda Pop’ dance

KPop Demon Hunters remains a runaway success, breaking every Netflix record on the books and surpassing the streamer’s previous juggernaut Squid Game as the platform’s most-watched title.

It even broke into the world of mainstream sports.

On Sept. 2, tennis pro Novak Djokovic celebrated his win over Taylor Fritz at the U.S. Open by doing a little dance on the court inspired by “Soda Pop,” one of the chart-topping original songs from KPop Demon Hunters performed by the movie’s demonic boy band, the Saja Boys.

Directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans saw it — and now they’re sharing their reactions to that moment during an interview with Entertainment Weekly at the Toronto International Film Festival.

“It’s just wild, man,” Kang comments. “Just all these different worlds colliding, now it’s like sports [at] the U.S. Open. It’s super cool.”

Appelhans credits a journalist from the Dominican Republic who he met at TIFF for pointing out a factor that relates to the Djokovic moment.

“It’s unexpected to me, but I’m really proud that this is the kind of movie that a bunch of dads and daughters are watching together,” the filmmaker, also known for Wish Dragon, says. “There’s not usually a lot of crossover there…One of the happy syntheses of Netflix is that people are watching stuff in their house, and dad is making dinner, and then, ‘Wait, what [is this]?!’ And there’s permission to slowly buy in.”

Speaking after the match and his “Soda Pop” dance earlier this month, the athlete mentioned that moment was “a big present” for his daughter’s birthday.

“Obviously, it’s a big thing globally for teenagers and for kids, but I didn’t know about it before my daughter told me a few months ago about it,” Djokovic said of KPop Demon Hunters. “So we’re at home doing different choreographies, and this is one of them, so hopefully I’ll make her smile when she wakes up tomorrow morning.”

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

The movie isn’t an official part of TIFF, but Kang and Appelhans attended the festival with Rei Ami, Audrey Nuna, and Kevin Woo, the singers behind characters Zoey, Mira, and Mystery Saja, respectively. The musical trio hit up a karaoke event Thursday night and performed several jams from the movie soundtrack, including “Golden,” “Soda Pop,” and “How It’s Done.”

“It’s just been an insane ride,” Woo tells EW. “It’s been two and a half months now, and to see so many milestones that we’ve achieved over the short amount of time is just unbelievable. Surreal!”

“It’s all happening so fast,” Ami says, adding, “It’s so hard to process because every day it’s a new record, a new milestone.”