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BTS smash box office event record with $32m live-streamed concert

Concert film made more in one day than many studio releases have managed in weeks during the pandemic

Louis Chilton
Monday 14 March 2022 08:53 GMT
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BTS have broken the box office record for a speciality event release with their live concert film, BTS Permission to Dance on Stage: Seoul.

The film, which was live-streamed around the world on Saturday 12 March, comprised a recording of the band’s concert at the Olympic Stadium in South Korea.

Classed as a “speciality box office” release, the concert film made $32.6m (£25m) at the global box office from 3,711 cinemas.

The total is considerably more than some major studio releases have taken in over their entire theatrical runs during the pandemic, and constitutes a new record for a speciality box office release.

The performance constituted BTS’s first stage concert in their home nation before a live audience since 2019.

A previous BTS event release, 2019’s Bring the Soul: The Movie, was the previous box office record holder, having grossed $24.3m during a two-week limited run.

In North American territories, tickets for Permission to Dance on Stage were priced at $35.

BTS performing onstage at the American Music Awards 2021
BTS performing onstage at the American Music Awards 2021 (Getty Images for MRC)

Marc Allenby, CEO of Trafalgar Releasing, the film’s distributor, said: “We are delighted with the record-breaking success of this project, not only for Trafalgar Releasing but the event cinema industry as a whole.

“It’s a testament to both the overwhelmingly dedicated fandom of the Army and the overall return to cinemas on a global scale.”

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