On October 17, news started going around that BTS' song 'Friends' was in the lineup for the soundtracks included in the upcoming and highly anticipated Marvel movie production, 'Eternals,' expected to premiere on November 5, 2021. 'Friends' was written, composed, and produced by Jimin. The KOREA MUSIC COPYRIGHT ASSOCIATION (KOMCA) lists Jimin in Classification A for song-writer, and Classification C for Composer, under the songs Friends. Additionally, Jimin is credited as a producer in the song.
Marvel Studios is one of the biggest and most reputable film production entities in existence, and the movie's cast includes award-winning big names in Hollywood, such as Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington, Richard Madden, and Ma Dong Seok (also known as Don Lee) to mention a few. Therefore, this news spread like wildfire.
To put into context, the American film and entertainment studio Walt Disney Studios, a Walt Disney Company studios content segment, is the parent company to Marvel Studios among many other prominent film production companies. Of note is that the Walt Disney Studios ranks fourth among the oldest companies in the industry and is also one of the 'Big Five' companies considered to be major film studios. In fact, the company recorded $13.2 billion at the global post office in 2019, which was an industry record that does not seem like any other company will record any time soon. Additionally, the company is responsible for the production of 6 of the top 10 highest-grossing films of all time globally and 2 of the highest-grossing film franchises of all time. This data shows how big of a deal it is to be a part of the company's production, in any capacity, hence the excitement about 'Friends' being part of the 'Eternals' production.
It all started when a Brazilian Marvel fanbase posted a list of songs saying that they would be included in the upcoming Marvel movie. The fanbase claimed to have gotten the information from an official document but was unsure as to whether they were at liberty to disclose this source. However, they did say that the source had previously posted news regarding a previous Marvel movie, and the songs listed as soundtracks all turned out to be accurate.
Later on in the same day, a leading independent entertainment news outlet 'The Direct' published an article authored by Matt Roembke, reporting the same news that the song 'Friends' would be a soundtrack in the 'Eternals' movie. This outlet covers news regarding Marvel Universe. The author says that 'Friends' was one of only two contemporary hits on the list of soundtracks, which was the type of familiarity that gives Marvel movies the trademark age-inclusive vibe.
On October 18, the Korean media outlet Newsen revealed that Walt Disney Company Korea had indeed confirmed that the song would be a soundtrack in the movie, therefore making the news official. The outlet further reported that the song would be 'on a certain scene' in the film. It explains how the song first drew attention as Jimin's debut release as a producer and also for its honest story of friendship. Notably, the film depicts the friendship between immortal superheroes, who have protected the earth against humanity's oldest enemy for thousands of years. This storyline is in alignment with the song.
With this official confirmation, Jimin once again makes history as this would be only the second time that a Korean song is included in a Hollywood blockbuster movie, following the featuring of Psy's 'Hangover' in Black Panther.
On October 20, one entertainment journalist and TV/film editor said she had seen the film and that the song opens up a scene and is in the entire scene. A good chunk of it is played. It is fully audible at first, then slowly fades to the background with the beginning of the dialogue.
Friends was previously nominated for Song of the Year on Gaon Music Awards, which saw Jimin set a record as the first and only BTS member to have a self-produced song under the BTS discography to be nominated for SOTY on Gaon Music Awards. This category also included his solo song 'Filter,' which was the first time that a solo BTS track was being nominated for SOTY for the awards, thus setting another record.
Jimin took over Twitter trends with various keywords with all the excitement as fans expressed their pride in him for this massive milestone in his career, praising his song-writing, composition, and production skills. There were 10 trending keywords in total, with some entering the worldwide trends and the mentions for 'Friends' surpassing 1 million tweets.
The reactions by Korean netizens on the online community platform 'the qoo' were no different. The comments asked Jimin to make more pretty songs. Some said it was their favorite song in the album and hoped more people would discover it through the movie, and others said they would now watch the 'Eternals' movie even though they were not big fans of Marvel movies, among other sweet comments. They all sang praises for Jimin and his song-writing and production abilities.
So far, various media outlets have reported on the news of Jimin's self-written, composed, and produced song 'Friends' being a part of the 'Eternals' movie soundtrack, terming Jimin's involvement in the song's production as a hot topic. All official articles covering the news of the song being featured in the movie mention that Jimin wrote and produced the song.
One fun fact about all this is that Jimin is actually a big fan of Marvel movies. He once said that his favorite Marvel character is 'Hulk' because of his simplicity and honesty. He finds Hulk cool because he does not play tricks and overpowers everything in his sight. In 2019, while he was in Los Angeles, he went to the theatres to watch 'Avengers: End Game' one of Marvel's productions.
Regarding the song's production process, Jimin had prepared 3 songs which he presented to PD Bang Shi Hyuk for feedback. They were already written and recorded before this presentation. The PD selected 'the third song, 'Friends,' which Jimin had felt was the least ready. Later on, the PD contacted him and asked how he felt about the song being included in the album. The song was to be a subunit, and among the three possible options of RM, Suga, and V, as the rest of the members were already in a sub-unit for a different song, V ended up being selected for this sub-unit.
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I’m so excited! Congratulations to the hit maker park jimin, his first produced song is doing so well