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The BTS Comeback Concert that broadcasted live on Netflix in March is illustrative of how mainstream K-pop has become, especially one its leading acts: BTS. It came less than a year after KPop Demon Hunters (2025) shattered records on the platform to become its most viewed film, while its fictional K-pop group HUNTR/X have developed into a global sensation.

This comes as Netflix increases its presence not just in the film and television industry but also the wider entertainment sector as its global accessibility and position as a significantly profitable streamer allows them to lure the biggest names and labels in K-pop. It secured the exclusive rights to the documentary BTS: THE RETURN (2026) that was released one week after the concert.

Netflix's first K-pop title was the documentary Blackpink: Light up the Sky (2020) directed by Caroline Suh tracking the rise of one of K-pop's most popular acts. The members remain the most followed Korean talent on social media and by a huge margin with Jennie's Instagram followers hitting 90m. The Thai artist and Blackpink member Lisa currently has over 100 million followers further signifying the group's immense popularity.

Also a hit with K-pop fans has been the multicultural group KATSEYE that was formed through a competition series produced by Hybe and Geffen Records, which later became a Netflix original Popstar Academy: KATSEYE (2024). It underscored the close link between K-pop and the wider entertainment industry. The group recently made a surprise appearance at Coachella in the US performing "Golden" with the real singers from KPop Demon Hunters: Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami.

KATSEYE wasn't the first K-pop group to benefit out of an audition show on cable and terrestrial television. ZEROBASEONE was created through the Mnet (owned by CJ ENM) series Boys Planet, while K-pop Star that featured the heads of two of Korea's leading record labels as judges (J.Y. Park (JYP Entertainment), Yang Hyun-suk (YG Entertainment)) led to acts including the sibling duo AKMU. The groups 2AM and 2PM were created through the Mnet reality show Hot Blood in what is a further sign of how the worlds of K-pop and the content industry closely interact and have done so for years.

Event Cinema

It is not just television where this is illustrated but it is also evident in the growing phenomenon of event cinema that has proved in some cases highly profitable. In 2023 the concert film BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas (2023) generated over $50m globally. It was filmed in Busan when the group performed ahead of their military service that saw them go on a hiatus until their comeback in 2026.

Burn the Stage: The Movie (2018)

The film was such a success it was outperforming Hollywood films, and it also generated much revenue from premium large formats (PLF). In a telling figure from Boxofficepro.com, PLF that included CJ's own technology Screen X and 4DX accounted for a quarter of the total box office gross from just 10 percent of the screens. In Korea close to 80 percent of admissions were from these two formats. It attracted a total of 92,539 viewers in Korea and was released through CJ's PLF label CJ4DPLEX. Internationally it was handled by Trafalgar Releasing, a British Event Cinema specialist founded in 2004 that have distributed K-pop event films including BTS' titles with its first one Burn the Stage: The Movie (2018) also breaking records generating $3.54m on its opening weekend.

K-pop Event cinema relies a lot on fandom to do the marketing, which means they cost relatively little to promote compared to conventional releases. Fan groups like ARMY turn to social media to help elevate the profile of a release. Unlike mainstream releases, event cinema films often screen for fewer days and times meaning they tend to open to strong numbers. It's not just K-pop either, Taylor Swift's promotional film Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of Showgirl (2025) accumulated $50m in 2025 surprising industry observers though the signs were there as Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2024) generated a whopping $267 globally.

The growth of event cinema has risen in parallel with the rise of K-pop, but the pandemic also played a role. With fewer mainstream releases in the Korean market, event films were an opportunity for cinemas to generate revenue. In 2023 there were more than twenty such releases that year compared to a handful before the pandemic. Last year G-Dragon in Cinema [Übermensch] (2025) pulled in 24,000 viewers in Korea with 38.6 percent of tickets sold were for IMAX.

Many of these films have also found a home on streaming after a theatrical release. Burn the Stage: The Movie is available on YouTube Premium, while Disney Plus has a number of titles including Blackpink: The Movie (2021) and BTS: Permission to Dance on Stage - LA (2021).

K-Pop Stars in Korean films

Exit (2019)

The relationship between K-pop and films is manifesting in other ways. It is not uncommon for K-pop stars to act in dramas and films. Being part of a group helps an artist build a profile before they can make that transition into acting. Im Yoona from Girls' Generation is a very successful case having starred in Confidential Assignment (2017), its sequel Confidential Assignment 2: International (2022) and Exit (2019). Fellow group members including Choi Soo-young have also launched acting careers as seen with Miss and Mrs. Cops (2019).

Broker (2022)

IU otherwise known as Lee Ji-eun starred in Broker (2022), while Krystal Jung – a member of the girl group f(x) – featured in Kim Jee-woon's Cobweb (2023). Bae Suzy from the Second Generation group Miss A has played roles in several dramas and films including the feature Architecture 101 (2012). Singers have also appeared in independent films as leading roles with KARA's Park Gyu-ri starring in Two Rooms, Two Nights (2016).

One of the first artists to have successfully navigated music, film and television industries is Uhm Jung-hwa who was a popular singer in the 1990s and by the 2000s was featuring as the lead in several features including Marriage is a Crazy Thing (2002), Singles (2003), Princess Aurora (2005) and Haeundae (aka Tidal Wave) (2009).

Cobweb (2023)

Looking ahead, this trend of the worlds of K-pop and wider Korean content coming ever closer is set to continue, particularly in the era of streaming as Korean content becomes increasingly internationalized. K-pop artists are also acting in Non-Korean productions with Lisa starring in the third season of The White Lotus (2021 - present) and Jennie in The Idol (2023), which is not new with Rain having attracted attention for his role in Speed Racer (2008) back in the 2000s. But with K-pop now a global industry, this is likely to further accelerate.

Written by Jason Bechervaise
Edited by kofic