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Disney announces Hybe deal that will bring three BTS shows to its streaming service
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 12 July 2022
BTS are celebrating their non-hiatus hiatus by signing a big old deal with Disney.
But don’t worry, of the three programmes that will come out of the partnership, two will mainly delve into the archives, and the third only involves one member of the group, that being V. So this big Disney partnership shouldn’t interfere too much with the hiatus BTS definitely aren’t currently on, but which they are definitely currently on.
Members of the K-pop powerhouse were pretty candid during a recent streamed conversation, of course, and during that chat also revealed that they would be pausing their activities for the time being, something that initially got translated as the group going on a ‘hiatus’ in the English subtitles.
However, given that ‘hiatus’ is usually boyband code for splitting up, the company behind BTS – Hybe – was keen to stress that this was definitely not a hiatus, but admitted that group members would be prioritising solo projects in the near future.
It is Hybe that has actually entered into this deal with Disney, with the South Korean entertainment firm set to produce five shows for Disney’s global streaming service, of which three involve BTS.
That includes a concert film recorded at one of the group’s ‘Permission To Dance On Stage’ shows in LA last year, and a documentary series telling the BTS story to date, which might include some new footage but will also heavily delve into the group’s archives.
The third programme is an already teased new series of the existing BTS reality show ‘In The Soop’, although in this series only V will appear from BTS, with him then joined by a number of other South Korean actors and musicians on a seaside holiday.
“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+”, says Jessica Kam-Engle, Disney’s APAC Head Of Content.
“This collaboration represents our creative ambition”, she goes on, “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”.
Adds Hybe boss Park Ji-won: “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. The Walt Disney Company has a long history of franchise building and promoting musical artists, with its unparalleled brands and platforms”.
