Lim Eun-jeong, head of production company for The King's Warden, candidly shared her feelings about the 'Bamti' tiger CG.
On the 11th, at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, an interview was held with Lim Eun-jeong, CEO of Onda Works, the production company of the film The King's Warden (director Jang Hang-jun, distributed/provided by SHOWBOX, produced by Onda Works·BA Entertainment).
The King's Warden is a work that depicts the story set in 1457 at Cheongryeongpo about the village head who volunteered for exile for the village's revival and the young deposed former king who was exiled. Recently, after reaching 10 million moviegoers, it recorded a cumulative audience of 11,884,042 through the 10th and has continued its box office momentum, creating a phenomenon.
Lim Eun-jeong of Onda Works hit the 10 million jackpot with her first work after going independent, and Onda Works, which was practically a one-person company, partnered with BA Entertainment under SLL (CEO Jang Won-seok) to complete joint production. In doing so, BA Entertainment achieved the feat of producing two consecutive "10 million movies," following The Roundup: Punishment (2024).
During the interview, Lim spoke about the film's topicality and addressed the controversy over the quality of the tiger CG that became a hot topic. The scene, relayed through audience reviews, was even given the dishonorable nickname 'Bamti' (a newly coined word meaning ugly) tiger.
Lim said, "To be honest, this is an awkward matter for the production company to joke about. The director may have spoken jokingly, but within the set period we couldn't do everything while focusing on certain priorities. To do so, we would have had to postpone the screening date. But for us to proceed, a large-scale preview was needed two weeks before the holiday opening. Giving that up as a strategy didn't seem right," explaining the situation.
She added, "(Actually) I do feel somewhat sorry. I feel sorry for the staff and the CG team. So being able to make improvements as reported in the articles is something we can do because the film is doing well. If it hadn't done well, there wouldn't have been an opportunity for additional work," and said, "(Before release) we felt a greater sense of responsibility. It absolutely had to do well. Rather than the distributor and production staff giving anything up, the top priority was making sure this film succeeded. There are regrets and such, but it was right to focus on nailing the given plan within the time so as not to contradict the release strategy."
Asked about the success in generating buzz, she confessed with a laugh, "I don't feel like it 'went well.' My face turned red." She continued, "From that moment I thought I'd like to fix it if given the chance. However, it may be difficult for cinemas to show a revised version. We will have a meeting soon, and I think we can decide more concretely then," adding, "(Still) I feel the film's message is resonating more strongly. Looking back, I was moved by audience members who treated it like a joke and accepted it," expressing her gratitude.
(Continued in interview ②)<
[Photo] Provided by SHOWBOX
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