I. Introduction
"Film Out" is the second Japanese digital single by BTS. It was released on April 2, 2021 as a pre-release for their fourth Japanese best album BTS, The Best.
II. Background & Release
"Film Out" was announced by BTS on February 16, 2021, as the ending theme for Signal the Movie Cold Case Investigation Unit (2021). The song was written by BTS member Jungkook in collaboration with the lead vocalist of Japanese rock power trio Back Number, Iyori Shimizu, and the track's producer UTA.
A ballad number, "Film Out" was eventually revealed to be the opening track on BTS' upcoming Japanese-language compilation album, BTS, the Best, released in June 2021.
The song was released for digital download and streaming in various countries on April 2, 2021, through Universal Music Japan.
III. Spotify Playlist
IV. Videos
Official MV
V. Reception
"Film Out" debuted at number one on Oricon's Daily Digital Singles chart dated April 2, 2021 with 23,344 downloads. With only three days of availability, the song also topped the Weekly Digital Singles chart for the tracking period dated March 29–April 4 with 32,947 cumulative downloads. "Film Out" debuted at number two on the Japan Hot 100 chart issue dated April 7, selling 10,361 digital downloads. The single also topped the component Download and Streaming charts. Following the release of BTS, the Best in June, the song reentered Oricon's weekly Digital chart at number 20 with an additional 5,002 downloads sold for the period June 14–20.
In the United States, with only one day of availability for the tracking week ending April 2, "Film Out" debuted at number 185 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart issue dated April 10, with 2,400 downloads sold and an accumulated 15 million streams. It was one of four BTS songs in the top-10 that week, marking the second time the group charted songs in three languages (Japanese, English, and Korean) within the same period. No other artist has achieved this since the chart's inception.
The following week, with its first full period of tracking from April 2–8, "Film Out" debuted on the Billboard Global 200 at number five, with 47.2 million streams and 66,000 sales, becoming BTS' fifth top-10 entry on the chart—the most among all groups since the ranking was launched. It is the first Japanese song to chart in the top five, and the second in the top 10 after LiSA's "Homura" which charted at number eight in October. The song moved up 182 spots on the Global Excl. U.S. chart to number three, with 44.3 million streams and second-week sales of 47,000 copies, marking the greatest jump on the chart by any song—IU's "Celebrity" previously held this honor when it moved up 146 spots from number 190 to 44 in February.
"Film Out" became the group's first Japanese-language song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, at number 81, and its 20th entry on the ranking overall. With 19,000 copies sold, the song was the best-selling release of the week and topped the Digital Songs chart. This marked BTS' first Japanese-language number-one on the sales chart, sixth number-one overall, and 24th top-10 entry.
