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The K-pop boy band BTS is set to release a documentary series and a concert film on
Walt Disney Co.’s
DIS 0.06%
streaming services, including Disney+, as part of a deal between the entertainment company and the band’s label.
The band members said last month that they would be taking time to focus on solo music, but they have shown few signs of slowing down. Disney said in a statement that it was working with HYBE, the band’s label, to release five titles on its streaming services.
BTS would star in at least two of the titles: a concert film called “BTS: Permission To Dance on Stage—LA” and a documentary series called “BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star,” Disney said.
One of the band members, V, is also set to star with four of his friends on a travel reality show for Disney, the company said.
“We can’t wait to show you these shows,” one of the band members said in a video released by Disney Monday.
The band said that the concert film would “soon be available” and that the documentary series would be released “sometime next year.” The series would show “how we have grown in the past years and the story of our music.”
A Disney spokeswoman said Tuesday that the company didn’t “have exact timing for the series quite yet,” but that the content would stream on Disney+ in countries outside the U.S. She said it was too soon to know if the titles would stream in the U.S. on Disney+ or Hulu, which the company owns a majority stake in.
She didn’t disclose financial details about the deal.
Representatives for the band didn’t return requests for comment.
The Disney deal comes after the band surprised fans last month when it said that its members would pursue solo work.
BTS has yet to say when its members would take time away from the group, but a person familiar with the matter said the band expected to eventually come back together.
A spokeswoman for HYBE said Tuesday that the band would “remain active as a group” while its members worked on solo projects.
Park Ji-won,
HYBE’s chief executive, said that the deal marked the “start of a long-term collaboration.”
Disney said that the concert film was recorded in November 2021 when the band performed in Los Angeles.
“This collaboration represents our creative ambition—to work with iconic content creators and top stars in Asia Pacific,” said
Jessica Kam-Engle,
Disney’s head of content in the Asia-Pacific region.
The partnership will offer a boost to Disney’s streaming catalog. The company said in May it added subscribers to Disney+ in its most-recent quarter, avoiding a slowdown that hurt rival
Disney+ had 137.7 million subscribers as of its fiscal second quarter.
Streaming-video services often see a temporary surge in subscriptions when they release major titles, like when Disney+ released the musical “Hamilton” in 2020.
Disney+ currently has other films in its library from singers including Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift.
Ms. Kam-Engle said that the new HYBE titles would “captivate consumers world-wide,” a nod to BTS’s ardent global fan base.
The South Korean band, which formed in 2013, has proven to be an international music phenomenon, helping to popularize the K-pop genre around the world. In the U.S. alone, BTS has topped the music charts, sold out stadiums and appeared at the White House to discuss anti-Asian hate crimes.
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