Live Nation partners on new South Korea arena
Live Nation is partnering with Korea’s Busan Metropolitan City and to develop a new arena and multi-cultural entertainment complex in Busan, South Korea’s second most populous city.
The new destination will include a 20,000-capacity arena, an exhibition centre, hotels, and an educational facility to foster talent in K-pop and K-culture.
Live Nation will manage the venue, with the local Live Nation Korea team also providing expertise on content and concert promotion to book talent.
“As we continue to expand our global venue business, Busan will be an important touring hub for global superstars who are touring more of the world, as well as K-pop and local artists,” says Live Nation president & CEO Michael Rapino. “We’re excited to help create more opportunities for artists and fans to connect, while also contributing to the growing tourism in the city.”
Busan City will assist with the approval procedures relevant to the project site and provide administrative support. Three potential sites are being investigated for the complex in Busan City’s projects.
“The arena will become a hub of tourism empowered by K-pop, contributing to the local and national economy”
“The arena will become a hub of tourism empowered by K-pop, contributing to the local and national economy,” says Busan’s mayor Heong-Joon Park. “The complex will create many opportunities and synergies with other cultural organizations in Busan including Osiria Sightseeing Complex, Haeundae Beach and local festivals like Busan Fireworks Festival and G-Star. We are looking forward to seeing Busan transforming into a global city full of cultural diversity.”
Live Nation’s Venue Nation owns, operates or has equity interests in a global portfolio of more than 250 live entertainment venues. Across the Asia Pacific, Venue Nation also oversees Grange Road in Singapore, Spark Arena in New Zealand, and the Palais Theatre, Festival Hall, Anita’s Theatre, Fortitude Music Hall, and Hindley Street Music Hall in Australia.
It was reported earlier this year that South Korea is to gain three new concert venues by the end of 2025 as it moves to capitalise on the demand created by the K-pop explosion.
PHOTO: Heong-Joon Park, mayor of Busan City, Greg Gillin, SVP – venue development, Live Nation, and Seung-Han Lee, CEO of B.GET.
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BTS gross $53m from latest cinema release
K-pop stars BTS are continuing their record-breaking reign at the box office, grossing more than $53 million with their latest cinema release.
BTS: Yet To Come in Cinemas was screened in more than 5,817 cinemas across 128 countries, with Japan, USA and Mexico among the top-performing territories.
Across the opening weekend, the concert film scored multiple top five positions in territories including Japan, Korea, Italy, and Spain, plus the top ten in UK, Germany, Peru, and Australia. The project also reached number one in Mexico, Colombia, and the Philippines, plus the number one international release in India.
The film documented the group’s BTS Yet to Come in Busan concert, which took place at Busan Asiad Main Stadium on 15 October to promote the city’s World 2030 Expo bid.
The free show was attended by a 50,000-strong crowd, with 10,000 and 2,000 people tuning in via real-life “Live Play” broadcasts.
The concert was re-edited and remixed for the big screen and featured “new close-up angles and a whole new view of the entire concert”. In addition to a regular cinema format, BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas was also screened in multiple special formats, such as ScreenX, 4DX and 4DX Screen.
“This figure is a testament to the strong relationships and collaborative efforts between CJ, HYBE, and Trafalgar”
“We are deeply gratified by the fact that one-fourth of our worldwide box office sales can be attributed to the special formats with ScreenX and 4DX, that we offered for the BTS concerts,” says Jong Ryul Kim, CEO of CJ 4DPLEX.
“This figure is a testament to the strong relationships and collaborative efforts between CJ, HYBE, and Trafalgar. We take great pride in this achievement and extend our sincere gratitude to viewers worldwide for their unwavering support.”
Marc Allenby, CEO of Trafalgar Releasing – which presented the film alongside CJ 4DPlex – adds: “We are delighted to see BTS: Yet To Come In Cinemas exceed an incredible $50m milestone at the box office. This figure is testament to the group, the ongoing dedication of the audiences and a credit to the international partnerships that made this landmark cinema event possible.”
The event was HYBE and Trafalgar Releasing’s fifth global title with the pop icons, after Burn the Stage: The Movie (2018), Bring the Soul: The Movie (2019), Break the Silence: The Movie (2020) and BTS Permission to Dance on Stage Seoul: Live Viewing (2022).
BTS’ one-off Busan concert marked their final performance together for some time, due to their members’ mandatory military service.
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BTS to bring Busan concert to cinemas worldwide
K-pop stars BTS will bring their massive October concert in Busan, South Korea, to cinemas worldwide in February next year.
The BTS Yet to Come in Busan concert took place at Busan Asiad Main Stadium on 15 October to promote the city’s World 2030 Expo bid.
The free show was attended by a 50,000-strong crowd, with 10,000 and 2,000 people tuning in via real-life “Live Play” broadcasts.
The concert, which has been re-edited and remixed for the big screen and features “new close-up angles and a whole new view of the entire concert”, will screen in cinemas globally from 1 February for a limited time, across more than 110 countries and territories.
In addition to a regular cinema format, BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas will also be screened in multiple special formats, such as ScreenX, 4DX and 4DX Screen.
“The group’s engagement with audiences has always been perfectly suited to the cinema”
In a comment, Marc Allenby of Trafalgar Releasing – which is presenting the film alongside HYBE and CJ 4DPlex – said they were looking forward to “collaborating once again” with the companies.
“The group’s engagement with audiences has always been perfectly suited to the cinema, and we are excited to welcome fans from all corners of the globe to this must-see celebration,” says Allenby.
Jong Ryeol Kim, CEO of CJ 4DPLEX, adds: “We are thrilled to announce our second ScreenX collaboration and first 4DX, 4DXScreeen collaboration with BTS. This film is made for both special formats, which fans can experience our movie completely through enlarged screens with 3 different angles and moving motion seats aligning to BTS’s music.”
BTS Yet to Come marks the fifth film the group has released in recent years. Burn the Stage: The Movie arrived in 2018, with Love Yourself in Seoul and Bring the Soul: The Movie both released in 2019. Break the Silence: The Movie followed in 2020.
BTS’ one-off Busan concert marked their final performance together for some time, due to their members’ mandatory military service.
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BTS’ Busan livestream attracts 49m viewers
A livestream of BTS’ stadium concert held to promote Busan’s World 2030 Expo bid attracted almost 50 million viewers, according to organisers.
Saturday’s (15 October) BTS Yet to Come in Busan show at Busan Asiad Main Stadium in South Korea was attended by a 50,000-strong crowd, with 10,000 and 2,000 people tuning in via real-life “Live Play” broadcasts – where fans can watch the concert in real-time on a big screen – in Busan Port and Haeundae, respectively.
The online livestream through Weverse, meanwhile, is reported to have generated approximately 49m views alone.
“We hope our concert will help promote Busan and support the city’s bid to host World Expo 2030 in Busan,” say BTS.
The free event was originally due to take place on a special stage on the site of a former glass factory near Ilgwang Beach, but was moved due to safety concerns. BTS were confirmed as ambassadors for Busan’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan Metropolitan City earlier this summer.
“BTS are looking forward to reconvening as a group again around 2025 following their service commitment”
“This will be a great opportunity to contribute to further development of K-Culture as well as its local pop cultures in Busan,” said Bang Si-Hyuk, chair of the group’s management company Hybe, said at the time.
Meanwhile, BTS’ record label Big Hit Music has announced via Weverse and official social platforms that the K-pop superstars are currently moving forward with plans to fulfil their mandatory military service, ending a long-running debate in Korea over whether they should receive an exemption due to their artistic accomplishments.
“Group member Jin will initiate the process as soon as his schedule for his solo release is concluded at the end of October,” says the company. “He will then follow the enlistment procedure of the Korean government. Other members of the group plan to carry out their military service based on their own individual plans.
“Both the company and the members of BTS are looking forward to reconvening as a group again around 2025 following their service commitment.”
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BTS switch concert venue due to safety concerns
A BTS concert planned as part of Busan’s World 2030 Expo bid in their native South Korea has switched venues due to safety concerns.
The South China Morning Post reports the free BTS Yet to Come in Busan show on 15 October was set to attract up to 100,000 people to a special stage on the site of a former glass factory near Ilgwang Beach.
However, following complaints the venue was ill-equipped for an event of such scale, the group’s management company Hybe has now announced the show will instead take place at the Busan Asiad Main Stadium.
“In order to prioritise the safety and comfort of attendees and ensure a smooth and transparent concert environment, while still protecting the purpose of this concert, the company has come to the decision to change the concert location,” says a statement.
“This will be a great opportunity to contribute to further development of K-Culture as well as its local pop cultures in Busan”
The new venue is expected to be able to accommodate 100,000 fans, which would make it BTS’ biggest ever one-day concert in South Korea. It will also be livestreamed online and a real-life “Live Play” broadcast – where fans can watch the concert in real-time on a big screen – will take place at the Busan Port International Passenger Terminal.
BTS were confirmed as ambassadors for Busan’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan Metropolitan City earlier this summer.
“Given the importance of its bid as a nation to host the World Expo 2030 in Busan, BTS and Hybe will do our best to successfully bring the World Expo to Busan,” says Hybe’s chairman Bang Si-Hyuk. “This will be a great opportunity to contribute to further development of K-Culture as well as its local pop cultures in Busan.”
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