K-Pop And ‘Star Wars’ Join Forces With EXO’s New Song ‘Lightsaber’ — Collaboration Strengthens SM Entertainment’s Relationship With Disney

Back in 1977, George Lucas created one of the most beloved sci-fi films of all time with Star Wars. Due to its success, Star Wars would eventually become a saga. Later renamed Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope to fit this change, the popular film was followed-up by two sequels to complete a trilogy followed by three films that took place prior to the original. Now almost four decades later, the seventh episode in the saga is being made and it is getting a lot of attention in the media. Certain details such as Princess Leia no longer being a princess and why Luke Skywalker is still not shown in the trailers have been hot debate topics. Needless to say, fans will have their inquiries answered on December 18, 2015, but only if they got a ticket before theater sites like Fandango crashed.

Though Star Wars: The Force Awakens already has enough hype and promotion to hold its own, it seems Disney is doing everything to appeal to all their audiences, locally and internationally. In East Asia, their plan is to crossover the Star Wars saga with one of the most-popular music industries not just in that region, but in the world: K-pop. Popular K-pop group EXO performed a new song easily influenced by the Star Wars saga titled “Lightsaber.” Apparently, they did such a good job that the relationship between their label, SM Entertainment, and Disney was strengthened.

SM Entertainment uploaded the music video for “Lightsaber” (which is attached above) on their SMTOWN YouTube page on November 10, 2015. The MV was detailed by Billboard in which the video opens up with Darth Vader’s iconic breathing. A synth-pop beat then drops and the actual song begins. Of course the song has all the hallmarks of a song performed by EXO, with its high-energy production, but there is also slivers of melancholy as Baekhyun, Sehun, and Kai sing about being a “lifesaver” and “lightsaber” for girls. As for the MV’s setting, it takes place in a “Jedi Only” club that is inspired by the Star Wars saga. Not only that, each member carries a lightsaber too.

Apparently, EXO’s “Lightsaber” was a success in which the music video garnered over 2 million views since its upload. This of course has made Disney very happy in which it is now reported that the Star Wars saga-themed song is not the last time Disney will work with SM Entertainment, as reported by KpopStarz. This is probably best proven by Disney’s recent reboot of The Mickey Mouse Club in South Korea, in which it follows the formula seen in most K-variety shows.

This is being touted as a very smart business move on behalf of Disney if they want a better footing in East Asia’s entertainment scene. The Hallyu Wave (increase of popularity of Korean culture and entertainment outside of Korea) has grown exponentially mostly through their television, films, and music. The label leading the pack for music is SM Entertainment especially with popular K-pop acts like Super Junior, SHINee, f(x), and Girls’ Generation. As for having EXO promote the Star Wars saga (primarily Star Wars: The Force Awakens) through their song “Lightsaber,” that too was smart given the fact EXO is widely popular not just in Korea, but in China and Japan as well. They even hold a record here in the United States too with the biggest sales week ever for a K-pop act in America.

Sar Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18, 2015. Los Angeles, California, however will get to see the film about four days earlier on December 14, 2015. At this moment, tickets for the initial release are sold out.

[Image via Screen Capture of EXO’s “Lightsaber”]