Im Young-woong brings 10th-anniversary stadium concert to screens, surpassing BTS in concert film record

Sky-blue light sticks wash all the way up to the theater ceiling. Singer Im Young-woong's 10th-anniversary stadium concert is coming to the big screen — his third solo concert film, and the first to fill all four surfaces: the front screen, both side walls and the ceiling.

His agency Mulgogimusic announced Monday that "Im Young-woong│I'm HERO The Stadium 2" will open exclusively at CGV theaters nationwide on Nov. 18.

The film captures the 2026 Im Young-woong Concert "I'm HERO — The Stadium 2," held Sept. 4-6 at the main stadium of Goyang Sports Complex in Gyeonggi Province. Marking his 10th debut anniversary, the show was his second stadium concert, following the 2024 Seoul World Cup Stadium performance. About 95,000 fans filled the seats over three days. The run pushed Im's cumulative solo concert attendance past 1 million since his first nationwide tour in 2022. On stage, he performed every track from his special digital album "I'm HERO (IM HERO) 10" for the first time, revisited signature hits in new arrangements, and treated the crowd to a drone show and fireworks display — all captured on film.

The film will be released in two formats: ScreenX and standard 2D. It will also screen at the four-sided ScreenX auditorium at CGV Yongsan iPark Mall, which projects images across the front screen, both side walls and the ceiling — the first time an Im Young-woong film has been presented in four-sided ScreenX. Trailers for the ScreenX version will run as screen advertisements at CGV ScreenX auditoriums nationwide. Directors Oh Yun-dong and Song Du-seon are at the helm.

Im's stage first reached the screen in October 2020, when "Mr. Trot: The Movie" — a concert film of the nationwide thank-you show featuring the top six finalists of TV Chosun's "Tomorrow Is Mr. Trot" — opened exclusively at Lotte Cinema. Im appeared alongside Young-tak, Lee Chan-won, Jung Dong-won, Jang Min-ho and Kim Hee-jae. The film surpassed 100,000 admissions within six days of opening.

Two and a half years later, on March 1, 2023, Im stepped onto the screen alone for the first time. "I'm HERO The Final" documented the encore performances of his first nationwide tour, held Dec. 10-11, 2022, at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome. Shot with 14 cinematic cameras and screened in three-sided ScreenX, it sold 120,000 advance tickets before opening day. The film ultimately drew 250,702 admissions and grossed about 6.06 billion won ($4.46 million). Of the revenue earned through its 18th day of release, 67.8 percent — 3.44 billion won — came from ScreenX auditoriums.

As the venue grew from a dome to a stadium, so did the screen. "Im Young-woong│I'm HERO The Stadium," which opened Aug. 28, 2024, documented his first stadium concert — held May 25-26 of that year at Seoul World Cup Stadium before 100,000 fans — along with more than a year of preparation. It was the first concert film to open simultaneously in IMAX and ScreenX premium formats. On opening day alone it earned 1.42 billion won, capturing a 44.3 percent share of the box office to claim the top spot.

The momentum of "The Stadium" did not fade after its opening week but carried quietly through the autumn. In its eighth week of release, on Oct. 19, cumulative admissions crossed 343,000, overtaking BTS's "Love Yourself in Seoul" (342,366 admissions) — which had held the all-time record for concert films since its January 2019 opening. The earlier "I'm HERO The Final" also ranked third all-time at that point, placing Im's two solo concert films in the top three simultaneously.

According to industry sources, cumulative box office revenue stood at 9.71 billion won as of Oct. 21 based on distributor figures, with 66.1 percent coming from premium formats such as IMAX and ScreenX. The average ticket price was 28,108 won. A Korean Film Council official said at the time that while concert films had traditionally skewed toward younger audiences in their 20s and 30s, this film drew a notably higher share of viewers in their 50s and older. "It is a case of premium-format moviegoing expanding to middle-aged audiences," the official said.