Director Jang Hang-jun opened up about the syndrome-level popularity of The King's Warden.
On the afternoon of the 11th, MBC Newsdesk aired a segment in which director Jang Hang-jun of the film The King's Warden appeared and talked with anchor Kim Su-ji.
That day, anchor Kim Su-ji asked how surpassing 10 million admissions affected Jang Hang-jun personally. Director Jang said, "It's an unreal, almost animated kind of thing. I hope it's forgotten quickly. With other good works," and added, "I thought 'The King's Warden' was the most fun in 2026, but you can't talk about this film that opened the following month without mentioning it; if a film is forgotten as just another film, I think it could become an opportunity for our movie industry, for Korean popular culture, to take off again," he said, expressing a lofty intention as a filmmaker.
When asked if there are Korean films he wants to see in theaters going forward, he said, "It's diversity. I hope a variety of genres will emerge, and if students don't challenge themselves with filmmaking, there is no future for film."
When asked what surpassing 10 million admissions for The King's Warden means for the Korean film industry, Director Jang explained, "If you look at the Italian film 'Cinema Paradiso,' rural people cry and laugh in the theater. Feeling that warmth and atmosphere, traveling through time and experiencing the whirlpool of emotions itself created a shared feeling. The fact that people felt this emotion is, isn't that the significance of this film?"
He went on, "The structure of Korean cinema is a cycle in which theaters make money and reinvest in films, and if that cycle doesn't align, films disappear. I'm satisfied that 'Wangsa-nam' has provided hope for a virtuous cycle and has opened the way a bit."
[Photo] Capture from MBC Newsdesk
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