If you’re here for the quick answer, here it is: the Jungkook documentary, I Am Still, played in theaters in 2024, and today you can watch the extended version, <JUNG KOOK: I AM STILL> THE ORIGINAL, on Disney+, in three episodes. Go ahead and open the app. We’ll wait.
Now, for those who stayed: I Am Still documents the eight months in which our Golden Maknae stopped being “the youngest member of BTS” and became, on his own, one of the most-streamed names on the planet. It’s the film of Seven, 3D, GOLDEN, a packed Times Square and the goodbye before his enlistment. And it’s also a film about fear, exhaustion and a boy from Busan asking, in the middle of it all, whether people would like him without BTS by his side.
In this complete guide to the Jung Kook documentary, you’ll find the credits, where to watch it, what the film shows, the box office numbers (including No. 1 in Brazil!), what the critics said, the difference between the three versions and why this documentary means so much to ARMY.
Where to watch the Jungkook documentary
The film JUNG KOOK: I AM STILL had a limited theatrical run from September 18 to October 13, 2024, in more than 4,100 theaters across about 120 countries.
Today, the way to watch it is on Disney+. On December 3, 2024, the platform exclusively released the extended version, <JUNG KOOK: I AM STILL> THE ORIGINAL, in three episodes of about 49 minutes each:
- Episode 1: Departure;
- Episode 2: Via;
- Episode 3: Rise.
Jung Kook documentary credits
| Title | JUNG KOOK: I AM STILL (in Korean, 정국: 아이 엠 스틸) |
|---|---|
| Director | Park Jun-soo |
| Production | HYBE |
| Theatrical distribution | Trafalgar Releasing |
| Release | September 18, 2024 |
| Running time | 93 minutes |
| Period covered | About eight months, from the single Seven (July 2023) to the end of the GOLDEN era (December 2023) |
| Party Edition | October 11, 2024, with 20 extra minutes of sing-along videos |
| Extended version | <JUNG KOOK: I AM STILL> THE ORIGINAL, on Disney+, since December 3, 2024 (3 episodes) |
| Worldwide box office | US$18.5 million, with more than 1.3 million tickets sold |
Official I Am Still trailer
The main trailer came out on the official BANGTANTV channel and already sets the tone of the film: huge stages, exhausting rehearsals and a very honest Jung Kook talking about the pressure of going solo.
Notice one line from the trailer that made headlines in Rolling Stone: Jung Kook says he never saw himself as a genius. For anyone who spent years hearing the fandom call him the Golden Maknae, the “boy who’s good at everything”, hearing that from him is almost a shock. And that’s exactly the spirit of the film.
What I Am Still means
I am still can be read in two ways, and both fit the film. One is “I’m still”: still Jung Kook, still part of BTS, still the same boy from Busan who joined Big Hit as a teenager. The other is “I keep going”: still standing, still at the top, still trying.
The review from Australia’s ABC News summed up that idea well: the film shows an artist searching for his own identity, wanting to please his audience while also wanting to break free as a solo artist. And the big question behind the title is exactly that: can he stay at the top without BTS by his side?
For ARMY, the name has yet another layer. Back in 2020, Jung Kook had released the single “Still With You”, one of the fandom’s most beloved songs. The word still has always been tied to that feeling of “I’m still here with you”.
The GOLDEN era in numbers: what happened in those eight months
To understand the scale of what the documentary captures, it’s worth remembering what Jung Kook’s solo debut was like. It was eight months of one record after another:
- July 14, 2023: “Seven (feat. Latto)” comes out, with the MV starring actress Han So-hee. That same day, he makes his live debut at the Good Morning America Summer Concert, in Central Park.
- “Seven” debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also tops the Billboard Global 200.
- On Spotify, “Seven” reaches 1 billion streams in 109 days, the fastest for a male artist at the time.
- September 23, 2023: performance with Latto at the Global Citizen Festival, in New York.
- September 29, 2023: “3D (feat. Jack Harlow)” comes out.
- November 3, 2023: the album GOLDEN arrives, with 11 tracks and the lead single “Standing Next to You”. The album debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, with 210,200 units in its first week, and spends 24 weeks on the chart.
- November 9, 2023: the surprise show in Times Square, in New York, announced about half an hour in advance. Even so, ARMY packed the area, and more than 280,000 people watched the stream.
- November 20, 2023: Jungkook ‘GOLDEN’ Live On Stage, in Seoul.
- According to the IFPI, GOLDEN was the 7th best-selling album in the world in 2023, with 2.7 million units in less than two months.
- December 12, 2023: Jung Kook enlists for military service, together with Jimin.
If you stop to think about it, all of this happened in less than half a year. And the documentary exists precisely to show what was behind that list.
What the Jungkook documentary shows
I Am Still mixes new interviews, never-before-seen behind-the-scenes footage and concert clips. Without giving too much away, here’s what you’ll find in the film:
The studio and the making of GOLDEN
A large part of the documentary follows the recording of the album, track by track, including the “Standing Next to You” sessions. That’s where we see the perfectionist Jung Kook that ARMY knows from BTS’s behind-the-scenes, repeating parts until they come out exactly how he wants. In one of the funniest moments, he complains that every song is hard and jokes that Jin and Jimin drive him crazy because they write the keys too high. The hyungs are present even when they’re not on screen.
MVs, rehearsals and choreography
The film goes through the music video shoots and the rehearsal rooms, where you can see the absurd number of hours each choreography required. Anyone who has watched the Seven and Standing Next to You dance practices knows the level of detail involved; in the documentary, we see the exhaustion that doesn’t show in the final video.
The routine of a global pop star
Hotel rooms, limousines between commitments, American morning radio shows, a stop at a Barnes & Noble bookstore. The documentary shows the far-from-glamorous side of promotions in the United States and the United Kingdom, with a packed schedule and very little time to breathe.
The stages
The concert clips are the highlight for those watching in theaters: New York, London and Seoul appear in the performances, including the Times Square show that ARMY will never forget.
The fear of not being enough
If there’s one line that stays with you, it’s when he says the general public doesn’t know him. This from someone who had just taken a song to the top of the Billboard chart. Jung Kook wonders, out loud, whether he can launch a solo career without the power of BTS. For anyone who has followed the group since 2013, it’s heartbreaking to see that not even the Golden Maknae escaped that insecurity.
The goodbye before enlistment
The film ends as this era comes to a close. One of the scenes fans talk about most is the one with his hairstylist, shortly before he leaves for military service. No spoilers, but keep the tissues close.
The GOLDEN era songs in the documentary
I Am Still is, at heart, the story of how the album GOLDEN was born. So it’s worth getting to know the tracks you’ll hear throughout the film and the extended versions:
- 3D (feat. Jack Harlow): the second single, released in September 2023, with a 2000s R&B vibe;
- Closer to You (feat. Major Lazer): one of the extra performances that only appear in the Disney+ version;
- Seven (feat. Latto): the single that opened the era and took Jung Kook to the top of the Billboard Hot 100;
- Standing Next to You: the album’s lead single, which later got a remix with Usher;
- Yes or No, Please Don’t Change (feat. DJ Snake), Hate You, Somebody, Too Sad to Dance and Shot Glass of Tears, which complete the 11-track album (the last one being the clean version of Seven).
GOLDEN is an all-English album, about 32 minutes long, designed to introduce Jung Kook to the global pop audience. That’s exactly the challenge the documentary shows: how to sound universal without losing what made ARMY fall in love with that voice.
Before I Am Still: BTS and documentaries in theaters
ARMYs who have been in the fandom for a while know that going to the movies to watch BTS has become almost a tradition. Before Jung Kook’s solo film, the group had already brought several documentaries to theaters and streaming:
- Burn the Stage: The Movie (2018), behind the scenes of the Wings tour;
- Bring the Soul: The Movie (2019), about the Love Yourself tour in Europe;
- Break the Silence: The Movie (2020), with the Love Yourself: Speak Yourself tour;
- BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star (2023), the Disney+ series about the group’s 10 years.
In those films, Jung Kook always appeared as the youngest: the one who cried at concerts, the one who was too hard on himself, the one the hyungs protected. In I Am Still, for the first time, the camera is with him alone. And we see that a lot has changed, but the way he gives everything on stage is exactly the same.
ARMY’s experience in theaters
Anyone who went to the screenings in 2024 remembers: I Am Still was less a trip to the movies and more a fandom gathering. Many screenings had ARMYs with lightsticks, banners and everyone singing along.
The Party Edition took that to the max: with 20 minutes of sing-along videos, the theater turned into a giant karaoke of Seven, 3D and Standing Next to You. For many people, it was the closest thing to a Jung Kook concert while he was doing his military service.
I Am Still box office and records
The Jung Kook documentary wasn’t just a fandom event: it became a box office phenomenon. The main numbers:
- Opening: in its first weekend, the film had already grossed US$8.18 million worldwide, showing in 114 countries, according to the Korean press. In North America, it ranked 9th on its opening weekend.
- No. 1 in Brazil: I Am Still opened at the top of the Brazilian box office, with about R$3.2 million between September 19 and 22, 2024, ahead of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Transformers One.
- Latin America: 2nd place in Mexico and Chile, and 3rd in Argentina, Colombia and Peru.
- Total: US$18.5 million worldwide and more than 1.3 million tickets sold.
- Records: according to distributor Trafalgar Releasing, I Am Still was the highest-grossing music event in theaters in 2024 and the highest-grossing film by an Asian solo artist.
- Exports: the South Korean government’s 2024 Korean Wave White Paper listed the documentary as the 2nd most exported Korean film of 2024, second only to the horror film Exhuma (Pamyo).
Because of the demand, Trafalgar and HYBE also released the Party Edition, which returned to theaters on October 11, 2024 with 20 extra minutes of sing-along videos, such as Seven, 3D and Standing Next to You. In other words: an official karaoke session with Jung Kook.
The three versions: film, Party Edition and The Original
| Version | When | Where | What it includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| JUNG KOOK: I AM STILL | 09/18/2024 | Theaters | The original film, 93 minutes long |
| I AM STILL – Party Edition | 10/11/2024 | Theaters | The film + 20 minutes of sing-along videos |
| <JUNG KOOK: I AM STILL> THE ORIGINAL | 12/03/2024 | Disney+ | 3 episodes, almost 55 extra minutes, new interviews and the full GOLDEN Live On Stage |
The Disney+ version is the most complete. Besides the full GOLDEN Live On Stage, it includes performances that didn’t make it into the film, such as “Still With You”, “Closer to You” (with Major Lazer) and “Shot Glass of Tears”.
What critics said about I Am Still
The documentary received few reviews from major outlets, which is common for music event films, but the ones that came out were positive.
- ABC News (Australia): critic Luke Goodsell described the film as a portrait of an artist searching for his own identity and a treat for fans. His caveat: the documentary is very celebratory and polished, in the classic style of pop star films, and preserves the mystery rather than showing total intimacy.
- Culturess: called the film an intimate portrait of Jung Kook’s passion, present in every scene.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 100% approval among critics, but with few reviews counted.
- Korean press: Herald Corporation highlighted that the film confirms Jung Kook’s talent, effort and passion, and Korean viewers called the documentary a pure record of that golden moment.
And ABC’s caveat makes sense: anyone expecting a confessional documentary, full of crises and secrets, may miss that. But for ARMY, the magic is exactly in the small moments: Jung Kook laughing at himself, complaining about the high notes, tired in the car, insecure in front of the camera and, even so, giving everything on stage.
Why I Am Still means so much to ARMY
Jung Kook joined BTS as a teenager, grew up in front of the cameras and spent his whole life being “the maknae”. I Am Still is the first long record of him as an adult, making his own decisions, putting his name on an entire album.
For the fandom, there’s something very special about watching that boy from the Superstar K audition video become the artist who packs Times Square with half an hour’s notice. And there’s something even more special in realizing that, even at his peak, he keeps asking the same question everyone asks at some point: am I good enough on my own?
The documentary is also a time capsule. It came out in September 2024, when all seven were doing their military service and everyone missed them. Watching it in theaters, surrounded by other ARMYs, singing along at the Party Edition, was a way to ease the longing while Jung Kook was in the army. He was discharged on June 11, 2025, together with Jimin, and today BTS is back with the ARIRANG era.
Tips for watching I Am Still
- Go for the Disney+ version: The Original has everything the film has and almost an hour more, including the full GOLDEN Live On Stage.
- Watch in order: the three episodes (Departure, Via and Rise) follow the chronology of the era, from Seven to his enlistment.
- Listen to GOLDEN first: knowing the tracks makes the studio scenes much more fun, because you’ll recognize every part he’s recording.
- Add the behind-the-scenes: the MV making-ofs, dance practices and GOLDEN era performances are on the official BANGTANTV channel.
- Keep tissues ready for the ending. Seriously.
BTS solo documentaries: compare
I Am Still is part of a wave of documentaries showing each member’s solo career. If you liked it, check out the others we’ve covered here at Bangtan Now:
- RM: Right People Wrong Place, Namjoon’s film about the making of the album Right Place, Wrong Person;
- SUGA | Agust D Tour ‘D-DAY’ The Movie, the concert film of the first solo tour by a BTS member;
- j-hope’s Hope on the Stage tour;
- the BTS documentary on Netflix, about the seven coming back together.
And to learn everything about our Golden Maknae, don’t miss the complete Jeon Jungkook profile.
Frequently asked questions about the Jungkook documentary
Where can I watch Jung Kook’s I Am Still documentary?
On Disney+, which exclusively has the extended version <JUNG KOOK: I AM STILL> THE ORIGINAL, in three episodes, available since December 2024.
How long is I Am Still?
The theatrical film is 93 minutes long. The Disney+ version has three episodes of about 49 minutes each.
What’s the difference between the film and I Am Still The Original?
The Original is the extended Disney+ version, with almost 55 extra minutes: new interviews, performances that didn’t make it into the film and the full GOLDEN Live On Stage.
What is the I Am Still Party Edition?
It’s the version that returned to theaters on October 11, 2024, with the film plus 20 minutes of sing-along videos, such as Seven, 3D and Standing Next to You.
How much did the Jung Kook documentary make?
US$18.5 million worldwide, with more than 1.3 million tickets. It was the highest-grossing music event in theaters in 2024 and the highest-grossing film by an Asian solo artist.
Was I Am Still No. 1 in Brazil?
Yes! On its opening, from September 19 to 22, 2024, the documentary topped the Brazilian box office, with about R$3.2 million, ahead of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Who directed I Am Still?
Park Jun-soo, produced by HYBE and distributed in theaters by Trafalgar Releasing.
Is it worth watching even if you’re not ARMY?
Yes, especially if you like music documentaries and want to understand how the machine behind a global pop star works. But it’s ARMY who will catch every detail, every inside joke and every reference to the hyungs.
One last message, ARMY
I Am Still isn’t just the documentary of an album that worked out. It’s the record of a moment when Jung Kook was afraid, worked to exhaustion and, even so, chose to keep going. He’s still our Golden Maknae. He’s still here.
Have you watched it yet? Which scene got you the most? Tell us in the comments! 💜
