Aura Entertainment has acquired the distribution rights for the family comedy, K-Pops!. The movie, which marks the directorial debut of musician Anderson .Paak, is expected to be released in January 2026, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The company’s acquisition of the project comes after it had its U.S. premiere at the Tribeca Festival this past Saturday, June 14. K-Pops!‘s American premiere comes after it had its world premiere as a Special Presentation at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

Stampede Ventures and Live Nation Productions produced the movie along with .Paak. In addition to producing and helming the feature, the filmmaker also co-wrote the script for the comedy with Khaila Amazan.

.Paak also starred in K-Pops!, which is presented in English and Korean. The filmmakers is also joined on screen by Jonnie “Dumbfoundead” Park and Yvette Nicole Brown. .Paak’s real-life teen son, Soul Rasheed, also stars in the comedy.

“With exceptional talent on both sides of the camera, K-Pops!is a perfect fit for our Aura slate,” CEO Marc Goldberg said in a statement. “Anderson .Paak brings so much heart, humor and authenticity to this story. As the popularity of K-pop continues to grow across the U.S., this film will be perfect to kick off the New Year.”

K-Pops! follows a washed-up American musician, BJ (.Paak), and his quest for stardom. He stumbles upon a second chance at fame by cashing in on the rise of his long-lost K-pop star son. But as he dives into the world of boy bands and viral fame, he discovers that being a father means more than being in the spotlight.

“I’m beyond excited to share K-Pops! with audiences,” .Paak said in a statement. “The film is an incredibly personal project for me, especially working alongside my son throughout the entire process. Stampede, Big Dummy, EST and Live Nation have been amazing partners as we’ve created the film, and I’m thrilled to bring Aura onto the team. Their bold vision makes me confident this film will break through in a big way.”

Before its TIFF premiere, .Paak told The Hollywood Reporter that the idea for the film came during the COVID-19 lockdown, when his son declared he wanted to be a YouTuber. The Grammy Award-winning musician said he and his son started working on skits when his song was starting his career.

.Paak realized his son was gifted as an improviser. “I started getting super into it. I was filming all of them and I was staying up super late to edit the videos so we could post them,” the filmmaker shared.

“Around this time, my whole house was obsessed with K-pop. His mom is full Korean and I’m part Korean, too, but I didn’t know anything about my Korean heritage.

“I’m always pushing for him to learn about his Black side. I’m like, ‘You know about BTS. What about BET?'” the filmmaker added. “I thought this could be a funny story: What if I wasn’t involved in my son’s life, he was raised in Korea and I found out about him later, and we have to learn about each other’s cultures?”

K-Pops! was produced by Greg Silverman and Jon Berg of Stampede Ventures, Jaeson Ma of EST Studios, .Paak and Park. Its executive producers include Chris Bosco, Michael Tadross, Gideon Yu and Grant Torre for Stampede Ventures; Michael Rapino and Ryan Kroft of Live Nation Productions; Eric Tu of EST Studios; Jeffrey Azoff and Anna Savage of Full Stop Management; and Amazan and Kevin Nishimura.