Movie 'The King's Warden' Surpasses 9.21 Million Viewers... Approaching 10 Million This Week

Director Jang Hang-jun's film 〈The King's Warden〉 is on the verge of surpassing 10 million viewers this week, thanks to explosive audience turnout during the March 1st holiday.

According to the integrated ticketing system for movie theaters, over 2.47 million people watched 〈The King's Warden〉 from the 27th of last month to the 2nd. On the 27th, about 278,000 people attended, followed by 655,000 on the 28th, and on March 1st, the holiday itself, a record high of over 817,000 people visited theaters. On the last day of the holiday, the 2nd, an additional 728,000 people entered, bringing the cumulative audience to approximately 9.213 million. Throughout the holiday, the revenue share remained between 76.9% and 83.4%, maintaining a dominant position.

Distributor Showbox announced that as of the afternoon of the 2nd, the cumulative audience had surpassed 9 million. This marks the fastest record for a historical drama to reach 9 million in just 27 days since its release. In comparison, the first historical drama to reach 10 million, 〈The King and the Clown〉 (2005), took 50 days, and another 10 million historical drama, 〈Masquerade〉 (2012), surpassed 9 million in 31 days, highlighting the remarkable speed of this film.

Currently, the reservation rate is also at 55.2%, maintaining a clear first place, making the 10 million milestone virtually a certainty. If 〈The King's Warden〉 surpasses 10 million, it will mark the birth of a 10 million movie approximately 2 years after 〈HUMINT〉 and 〈Crime City 4〉 in 2024.

Starring Yoo Hae-jin and Park Ji-hoon, this film depicts the story of the deposed King Danjong Lee Hong-wi (played by Park Ji-hoon) spending his final days in exile at Cheongnyeongpo in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, with the village chief Eom Heung-do (played by Yoo Hae-jin) and the townspeople. The tension created by the power core Han Myeong-hoe (played by Yoo Ji-tae) evokes deep emotions as the young king connects with ordinary citizens, continuing to generate strong word-of-mouth success from the Lunar New Year holiday through to the March 1st holiday.

Meanwhile, the second place at the box office is occupied by director Ryu Seung-wan's 〈HUMINT〉, which attracted a total of over 166,000 viewers during the holiday, maintaining a cumulative audience of approximately 1.863 million.

In third place is the Japanese live-action film 〈5 Centimeters per Second〉 (39,000 viewers), and fourth place goes to 〈Choir of God〉 starring Park Si-hoo and Jung Jin-woon (35,000 viewers). On the 4th, 〈The Bride!〉 (reservation rate 7.1%) starring Jesse Buckley and Christian Bale, and 〈Mad Dance Office〉 (reservation rate 5.0%) starring Yeom Hye-ran will be released, drawing attention to changes in the box office landscape.