K-pop supergroup BTS to star in three Disney+ projects

Both Disney+ and BTS are incredibly popular properties, so it makes sense that they would finally work together.

K-pop megastars BTS are currently developing five projects at Disney streaming service Disney+, with the group expecting to star in three of them.

Today, the Walt Disney Company and BTS’ studio home Hybe revealed this new global content partnership, which will see them produce five titles for Disney’s streaming services, including three exclusive projects featuring BTS members.

This announcement was made with a promotional video, showing the group members explaining what shows were on the way.

What will the BTS Disney projects be about?

While not much is known of the other two projects, the three projects that BTS will star in include:

• BTS: Permission to Dance on Stage – LA: This will be a cinematic 4K concert film featuring BTS’ live performance in Los Angeles’ Sofi Stadium in November 2021. It will showcase the first time in two years – due to global restrictions – that BTS were able to meet its fans in person. Billboard hit songs “Butter” and “Permission to Dance” will also be shown.
• In the Soup: Friendcation: This will be a travel reality show with a star-studded cast, including V of BTS, Itaewon Class’ Seo-jun Park, Parasite star Woo-shik Choi, K-drama actor Hyung-sik Park, and rapper Peakboy. The show will follow these five friends as they go on a road trip.
• BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star: As stated by the band in the above promotional video, this docu-series “will take you on a journey of how we have grown in the past years and the story of our music.” BTS have recently been planning to work on solo projects, although the group still remains together. It appears that this series will explore some of this new chapter for the pop icons.

Disney+ have recently been trying to build it’s K-drama content – no doubt following the success of Squid Game for Netflix – in order to build subscribers throughout Asia, South America and everywhere. The streaming service stated that it would release over 20 Korean titles this year, including at least 12 Korean originals. In fact, the company’s most popular original is currently Snowdrop, which features Jisoo, a member of the K-pop girl group Blackpink.

Disney “thrilled” by collaboration

Bringing in popular K-pop stars, specifically the juggernaut that is BTS, is undoubtedly a smart move for Disney, and they seem to think so too:

“We are thrilled to be collaborating with Hybe to showcase their original content created with powerful artist IP on our global streaming services including Disney+,” stated Jessica Kam-Engle, Disney’s APAC head of content to the Hollywood Reporter.

“This collaboration represents our creative ambition – to work with iconic content creators and top stars in Asia Pacific so their talent can be enjoyed by mainstream audiences in multiple ways. We believe these new titles will captivate consumers worldwide and look forward to introducing more music content on our service.”

“This will be the start of a long-term collaboration, where we present worldwide audiences a wide range of Hybe content for fans who love our music and artists,” noted Park Ji-won, CEO of Hybe. “The Walt Disney Company has a long history of franchise building and promoting musical artists, with its unparalleled brands and platforms.”

It seems like this collaboration has the potential to bring a lot of Army members to the streaming service, and even create some new fans along the way.

When can I watch the BTS Disney+ projects?

No official date has been given about the release of the BTS Disney projects, but the above promotional video states that Permission to Dance will be out soon, and Beyond the Star will be available exclusively on Disney+, along with other Disney streaming services, in 2023.