As Disney approaches the end of its cycle of live-action remake movies, us K-Pop fans can rejoice knowing our subscriptions to Disney+ will be useful in a whole new way, bringing us more joy than ever before via shows, documentaries, or docu-series of our favorite K-Pop groups.
Bro, Tell the Story
Unsurprisingly, it all started with BTS. Bring The Soul, Burn The Stage, Break The Silence… while BTS sure knows how to milk an acronym to name a piece of content like the aforementioned movies and documentaries, the companies who work with them also know one thing is for sure: BTS projects = Bags Totally Secure.
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Pardon my bad joke, but the point stands.
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And because BTS always delivers and the return on investment always goes beyond the expected, the doors are swung wide open for others to walk through after.
Disney+ has entered the chat
The moment Disney decided to throw its hat into the streaming ring, they knew the competition would be stiff and they could not rest on their laurels. Sure, Disney is Disney, but even they know that bringing their “same old” own content (yes, even when they have Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and more as part of their catalog) only goes so far when the name of the game is earning new marketshare alongside or away from the established giants like Netflix, Hulu, and every other channel joining the streaming battle.
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So, which demographic known to spend money indiscriminately did Disney decide to cater to? K-Pop fans.
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And so in 2022, we learned that Disney+ teamed up with the kings of fan service content themselves, BTS, to create and distribute original content. The first project? A documentary that gave us a look behind the scenes at the Permission to Dance ON STAGE concert tour stop in Los Angeles that took place in November/December of 2021.
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Because BTS is such a safe investment, at the same time that they entered into the deal to document and release the PTD LA concert documentary, Disney+ also recorded three more projects with BTS, two of which were for individual members.
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The interesting thing is that the two solo projects were documentaries that would be released not only on Disney+ but also on Weverse (HYBE’s own content and fan communication platform), and they would subsequently get the cinema treatment with limited showings in theaters on the weekend of June 17-18 2023. Even with that split attention/access, it was still worth it for Disney+ to produce and distribute these.
Disney plus K-Pop equals happy fans
So, what is available on Disney+ already? What else can we expect down the pike?
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BTS already has substantial marketshare on Disney+ with the PTD LA, the solo member documentaries, and BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star, released in December of 2023 and, as expected, milking the all too powerful acronym. Not to mention the IN THE SOOP : FRIENDCATION spinoff, which features BTS member V.
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As it’s become the norm, BTS’ success on the platform has swung the door open for more groups to walk through and do the same. TOMORROW X TOGETHER, the only other K-Pop group under the same label, also got a Disney+ documentary around their US tour and Lollapalooza performance in 2022. And with SM Entertainment not being one to be left behind, NCT 127 got a docu-series that began airing on the platform in August of 2023.
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Below is a list of the films, documentaries, and docu-series that Disney spearheaded and already are or will be available for streaming on Disney+. We will keep this list updated as new titles are announced, because we’re sure there will be plenty more coming up.
Feel free to bookmark this page and check back regularly for updates!
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BTS: PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE – LA
Concert Film
September 8th, 2022
Documentary
February 17th, 2023
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Documentary
April 21st, 2023
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TOMORROW X TOGETHER: OUR LOST SUMMER
Documentary
July 28th, 2023
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Docu-series
August 30th & September 6th, 2023
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BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star
Docu-series
December 20th, 2023
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Aside from these films and docu-series, there are other K-Pop-related/adjacent pieces that were also made available on Disney+, but either globally as the ones listed above, or as projects started/produced by another entity and to which Disney+ bought the rights for or co-produced and/or distributed.
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After its cinema run in summer of 2021, BLACKPINK: THE MOVIE was released on Disney+ for a number of countries in Asia in December of 2021 as part of The Walt Disney Company’s APAC (Asia-Pacific) Content Showcase, and rolled out to a few more regions in early 2022. It was also released on Blu-Ray and DVD in late March of 2022.
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For US viewers who want to watch it, it’s available on Hulu instead of Disney+.
Documentary
December 15th, 2021
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Aside from all the music-focused content to be expected from K-Pop groups and their members, Disney+ diversified a bit by buying the rights to stream Snowdrop – a K-Drama starring Jisoo of Blackpink. Since then, Disney+ has slowly been adding K-Dramas to the platform.
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Up until July 2023 they only had one original K-Drama called Soundtrack #1, and then in August they added Moving, which became Disney+ and Hulu’s most watched K-Drama ever in the US within a week of release. Please note, there are more K-Dramas associated with Disney+ (or available to watch on Disney+ in other countries), but in the US they were originally made available on Hulu, and then added to the Disney+ catalog too. This includes K-Dramas like Big Mouth, Shadow Detective, Big Bet, Kiss Sixth Sense, Connect, Grid, and Rookie Cops.
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K-Drama
December 18, 2021
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And in the same vein of non-music related content, we got IN THE SOOP : FRIENDCATION – a spinoff of the BTS original staycation show IN THE SOOP – born as the group was unable to go abroad during the pandemic for their summer travel show named Bon Voyage.
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After two seasons of seeing the BTS members IN THE SOOP (soop is Korean for forest, by the way) and two seasons of the same concept for fellow K-Pop group Seventeen, the Wooga Squad (a group of friends made up of actor Park Seojun, actor Choi Woosik, actor Park Hyunsik, rapper Peakboy, and BTS member V) went on their own “friendcation,” and Disney+ said:
and so did we.
Series
July 22nd, 2022
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Lastly, just like with BLACKPINK: THE MOVIE, PSY SUMMER SWAG 2022, which was released in May of 2023, is also available on Hulu for US viewers.
Concert Film
May 3rd, 2023
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And just like that, Disney+ is officially in its K-Pop and K-Drama era!
We know producing these shows, films, and docu-series takes a while, so we’re sure there are currently many in the works that will be released later this year, in 2024, and beyond. With that in mind, who else do you want to see on Disney+? Who do you think is already working on a Disney+ project? Leave us a comment!
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