King Of K-Pop’ Documentary Examines A Legendary K-Pop Legacy

While K-pop has made its way onto streaming services via documentaries and concert series from top acts like BTS, BLACKPINK and Stray Kids, its industry power players rarely get the spotlight. But a new Amazon MGM Studios documentary is peeling back the curated layers of the K-pop scene to better reveal the complex and brilliant figure that’s been at its center for nearly 30 years: Lee Soo Man, the man widely dubbed as a “king of K-pop” as the subject of the highly anticipated feature.

Directed by Ting Poo (who directed recent docs like 2021’s Val and Faces of Music for this year) and premiering May 13 on Amazon Prime Video, Lee Soo Man: King of K-Pop charts the seismic legacy of the man who built an empire — and what happens when he nearly lost it all.

Lee’s story is not just one of entrepreneurial vision, but his namesake SM Entertainment (the SM stands for Soo Man) has helped build the blueprint of an entire cultural movement. As the founder of SM Entertainment, Lee shaped global phenomena like BoA, TVXQ!, Super Junior, Girls’ Generation, EXO, NCT, and aespa, who helped the genre spread far beyond Korea with the artists playing key roles in K-pop’s presence in Japan and America. The documentary also includes interviews with some of K-pop’s most iconic artists, including BoA (the K-pop queen who has been with the company for over 25 years) as well as Super Junior’s leader Leeteuk, EXO’s leader Suho, and NCT’s leader Taeyong, as well as the full group aespa.

But what sets this documentary apart is its willingness to dig deeper — into the artistry, the grind, and even the controversies that surround Lee Soo Man’s SM era.

The trailer opens with the bold claim: “America took 100 years to dominate pop music; Korea did it in 20.” That stark comparison is the documentary’s mission statement. Through unseen footage of late-night studio sessions, dance rehearsals, and never-before-heard stories of the many SM artists through the years, it captures the sheer intensity but also tangibly human sides behind the polished performances.

Tension is also central to the film’s power. This isn’t a glossy hagiography but a complicated character study. While the documentary portrays Lee as a visionary, the film also unpacks the criticism he and the company have faced. From the infamous “slave contracts” involved with TVXQ! to his abrupt ousting from SM Entertainment in 2023, it seems like no topic is off limits in a refreshing dose of honesty from the K-pop industry.

Viewers seemingly get a glimpse into the boardroom drama that saw Lee pushed out of the very company he built. When SM’s leadership shifted to a new multi-production model, Lee resisted and eventually sold his shares in the company to main-label rival HYBE (the multi-label conglomerate home of BTS, SEVENTEEN, NewJeans and more), igniting a corporate power struggle that involved major corporate names like Kakao Entertainment and a public rebuke from his own nephew and co-CEO, Lee “Chris” Sung Soo. The documentary does not seem like it will flinch from these scandals and may possibly even have Chris share his side of the story based on what looks like intimate footage with the executive.

What’s also made clear by the end of the documentary is that post-SM, Lee is not retreating — he’s reinventing.

Now helming A2O Entertainment, he’s pioneering what he calls “Zalpha Pop,” a new genre fusing music, technology, and sustainability that appeals to Generation Z and Alpha. The company’s first act, A2O MAY, is positioned as leaders for LSM’s new cultural revolution. Interestingly, the Chinese girl group will be in Los Angeles performing at iHeartRadio’s Wango Tango just as Lee Soo Man: King of K-Pop premieres in Hollywood days later.

That evolution reflects the documentary’s broader theme: legacy is never static. In K-pop, where image is everything, Lee Soo Man: King of K-Pop dares to show the cracks and, in doing so, offers a rare look at the man whose vision changed pop music worldwide.