The movie The King's Warden (hereafter The King's Warden) shows no signs of slowing at the box office. It has passed 10 million and now surpassed 12 million.
On the 11th the distributor SHOWBOX said on its official social media, "A box-office king has emerged!! The King's Warden surpasses 12 million viewers," adding, "Thanks to the relentless donkeys you, the audience, have sent, following Exhuma, it is recording the highest audience numbers for a Korean film in the past two years. Thank you to all the subjects who visited The King's Warden," the company said.
Earlier, The King's Warden passed 10 million cumulative viewers around 6:32 p.m. on March 6, its 31st day in release. Following the nationwide period-drama box-office phenomena The King's Man, Masquerade and The Admiral: Roaring Currents, it became the fourth period film in history to reach 10 million viewers, proving its explosive popularity as 2026's top box-office hit. It also marked the first 10-million film in two years since The Roundup: Punishment, which was released in 2024.
The King's Warden later exceeded 11 million again on its 33rd day in release and that day reached the 12 million milestone.
According to the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) integrated box office network, it drew 177,195 viewers nationwide on the 10th. That brought The King's Warden's cumulative audience to 11,884,042. This ranks 21st among all domestic releases. The King's Warden surpassed the previous film in the ranking, Taegukgi: Brotherhood Of War, which had 11,746,135 viewers.
Currently The King's Warden is still drawing more than 100,000 viewers per day on weekdays. As a result, it surpassed Choi Min-sik's Exhuma (11,913,264) and reached 12 million, placing it at No. 20. At this pace it is expected to comfortably overtake No. 19, Song Kang-ho's A Taxi Driver (12,189,800).
Whether it can reach 13 million is attracting attention.
Meanwhile, The King's Warden depicts the story of the deposed young former king Danjong Yi Hongwi (Park Jihoon) and village headman Eom Heung-do (Yoo Hai Jin), set at Cheongnyeongpo in 1457.
[Photo] Provided by SHOWBOX
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