By Jae-Ha Kim
Variety
June 25, 2019
BTS will be back on the big screen this summer. The Korean pop group announced today that their latest feature film, “Bring the Soul: The Movie,” will have a global release on August 7. It arrives just six and a half months after the septet’s last film release, “Love Yourself in Seoul.”
“Bring the Soul” is expected to be similar in theme to 2018’s “Burn the Stage: The Movie,” which was a mixture of BTS’ live performances, interviews and candid footage of the septet being tourists. This latest film focuses on the band’s final days of their “Love Yourself” tour in Europe. The filmmakers promise that the group — made up of members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook — will share never-before-heard anecdotes.
“Trafalgar Releasing is thrilled to collaborate with Big Hit Entertainment again for ‘Bring the Soul: The Movie,’” Trafalgar Releasing CEO Marc Allenby said in a statement. “(Their fans) the ARMYs are truly a community, and we are excited to bring them together for an all-new BTS experience in cinemas worldwide.”
“Burn the Stage: The Movie” pulled in $18.5 million at the box office in limited release, making it the highest grossing global event cinema – a record previously held by “One Direction: Where We Are – the Concert Film.”
Tickets will be available beginning July 3 via the film’s official website. Previous screenings of their films sold out immediately.
.@BTS_twt will be back on the big screen this summer as “Bring the Soul: The Movie” gets global theatrical release https://t.co/LvYEEuZCFl
— Variety (@Variety) June 26, 2019
Hi, Harry! Yours was the first comment that I saw. I wrote this piece. Interestingly enough, half of BTS are rappers. They started out as a hip-hop group and spent time in the United States studying with rappers to learn more about its history. “Bring the Soul” is a nod to their bilingual wordplay as well as their CD title, “Map of the Soul: Persona.” Their use of ‘soul’ is in reference to the human condition, and not the music genre.
The reason your tweet didn’t sit well with some people is because kimchi has been used in a derogatory way to slam Koreans. Rex Reed made a snide comment about it in his review of “Oldboy.” Even NPR derisively described Shin Kyung-sook’s novel, “Please Look After Mom” (엄마를 부탁해), as “kimchi-scented Kleenex fiction.” How that’s even possible is beyond me, but you get the point.
I have been a fan of yours for years. If you’re ever in Chicago, I’d love to treat you to a meal (that may or may not include kimchi). Cheers!
You always handle this BS with so much class and patience.