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

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 (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.”