Director Jang Hang-jun brazenly dodged a pledge as the film "The King's Warden" neared 10 million cumulative admissions. Jang Hang-jun's comment, Who keeps all promises anyway, drew responses from netizens saying, That's clever.
Director Jang Hang-jun appeared on a live-recorded episode of "Bae Seong-jae's Ten Wednesday Live" via the YouTube channel "SBS Radio Erao" on the afternoon of the 4th to conduct a broadcast to clean up the offhand ten-million-promise he had made.
Earlier, on Jan. 1, Director Jang Hang-jun appeared on "Bae Seong-jae's Ten" and joked, There's no way it will reach 10 million, but if it does, I'll change all my phone numbers, change my name and get plastic surgery. So no one recognizes me, he said, adding, I'm thinking about naturalizing somewhere else. I hope they don't look for me. I'm also thinking about buying a yacht. I'll have a party on board.
Afterwards, "The King's Warden" continued its box office momentum quickly as positive reviews spread by word of mouth. On the 5th, the Korea Film Council's integrated ticketing system reported it had drawn 9.59 million admissions, and it was expected to surpass 10 million over the coming weekend.
Director Jang Hang-jun noted his fame, saying, Lately people recognize me even when I'm wearing a mask. I often take the subway, and people recognize me even with a mask on, while adding, I appreciate the attention, but I wonder if that's really newsworthy.
Director Jang Hang-jun said he had not at all expected the film to surpass 10 million viewers. He said, Even if it wasn't going to reach 10 million, I assumed as much, and because the opening day score and reservation rate were low, it was a question of whether we would pass the break-even point. When the news framed it as a pledge, it became very burdensome and the investing company held meetings to discuss countermeasures.
Nonetheless, interest grew in whether Director Jang Hang-jun would fulfill his 10-million pledge. That day Bae Seong-jae mentioned name-change suggestions from netizens such as Jang Gojang, Jang Geomangdong, Jang Maltese, Jang Hang-si-mal-joshim and Janghada Kim Eun-hee. Director Jang Hang-jun laughed and said, Jang Hang-si-mal-joshim seems to be my favorite these days.
Director Jang Hang-jun also addressed the pledge about plastic surgery. He said, If I were to have surgery, rather than cosmetic procedures I would like to redesign everything. I want to start over by tearing it down and beginning again, not just a remodel.
Regarding the yacht party pledge, he said, Many people have kept sending messages or texts asking to be invited. Yesterday and today I received several hundred messages and texts. Acquaintances said they wanted to send their regards one last time before changing their names and phone numbers. These days I'm being mocked as part of a group, he said, describing his situation.
Especially about the 10 million viewers pledge, Director Jang Hang-jun deftly deflected with humor, saying, We're just talking among ourselves, but how could anyone keep all of that? Is there a single person like that in the world?
He also gave an honest response to reactions saying the tiger CGI was shocking. Producer Jang Won-seok said, The blind screening reactions were better during postproduction than on the original planned release date. Distribution determines the release date. We pushed the release a bit and work time was short, he explained.
Director Jang Hang-jun candidly said, I knew but there was nothing I could do. The distributor decided on the release, and since it opened during the Lunar New Year, it did well. If it had been released much later, who knows what would have happened. The tiger could have been very good but might not have succeeded.
[photo] OSEN DB, movie poster.
[OSEN]