The King's Warden exceeded 12 million admissions, and director Jang Hang-jun expressed regret over his small equity stake.
According to the Korea Integrated Ticketing System on the 12th, The King's Warden drew 171,426 viewers on 1,934 screens on the 11th, bringing its cumulative audience to 12,055,448 and maintaining its No. 1 box office position. So far, its cumulative theater revenue has surpassed a staggering 116.1 billion won.
The King's Warden reached the '10 million viewers' milestone on its 31st day after release, March 6, making it the 34th film to reach 10 million admissions among domestically released works. After The Roundup: Punishment, which was released in 2024, the streak of 10-million films had been broken, and this is the first 10-million film in two years. It is also the fourth historical film to reach 10 million admissions after The King and the Clown, Masquerade, and The Admiral: Roaring Currents.
In particular, The King's Warden shows no signs of slowing down even after passing 10 million admissions. After surpassing 11 million and 12 million sequentially, it beat Exhuma (11,913,264) to rise to 20th on the all-time list. Even on weekdays it is drawing more than 100,000 viewers a day, so it is expected to surpass 19th-place A Taxi Driver (12,189,800) today (13th). Attention is focused on whether it can reach 13 million and 14 million and secure a spot in the top five all-time box office.
In this situation, director Jang Hang-jun drew attention by talking about his equity in the mega-hit The King's Warden.
A video titled 'Jang hang speak carefully phone connection with director Jang Hang-jun' was posted on the YouTube channel Bivov TV, revealing his recent status and impressions about the film's success.
Song Eun I called Jang Hang-jun and asked, "Your voice tone is very low; your voice is always high, so why is your tone like this?" Jang Hang-jun said, "I'm lying down because of a hangover issue. I also have rhinitis." Kim Sook asked, "Has the treatment changed now?" and Jang Hang-jun replied, "I'm refraining from going out for now," saying he was controlling impulsive behavior.
Song Eun I asked, "You were loved in variety shows and other entertainment circles, but how does it feel to make a 10-million film in your main field, movies?" Jang Hang-jun said, "I can't believe it. The worst thing I sometimes think is waking up and realizing it was a dream. Returning to that moment is the worst nightmare," and added, "My wife, writer Kim Eun-hee, and my daughter check the score every day and are so happy. 'Living, I never thought a day like this would come' — that's the thought we live with."
Kim Sook asked, "Does this mean you make a lot of money, oppa?" Jang Hang-jun confessed, "I didn't expect this and put up only a very small equity stake. I put up such a small stake that it's painful just to think about it. I could have built a large building in front of the Bivo building, so it's so regrettable," prompting laughter.
Recently, Lim Eun-jeong, CEO of Onda Works, which produced The King's Warden, told OSEN in an interview, "We are talking about reward vacations. Actually, dramas and the like often take reward vacations. In those cases, the timing of the broadcast side's crank-up aligns, so staff can go together. For us, that would mean some can go and some cannot. I want that too, but I wonder if it's possible from an equity standpoint. Besides that, we are discussing incentives and other methods of distribution," mentioning revenue sharing.
Currently, based on surpassing 12 million admissions, The King's Warden's domestic theater revenue has exceeded 116.1 billion won. With the continued success, expectations are high for how much the cumulative revenue will increase.<
[Photo] Provided by SHOWBOX, screen capture from Bivov TV
[OSEN]