'The King’s Warden': The golden formula for Korean cinema has changed
“The King’s Warden,” which surpassed 10 million viewers on March 6, was made on a 10.5 billion won ($7.2 million) budget, placing it in the mid-budget range rather than the blockbuster category. Courtesy of Showbox
“The King’s Warden” crossed the 10-million admissions threshold on March 6 and by last Friday had reached 12.2 million, prompting some industry watchers to predict it could finish with as many as 15 million viewers.
The milestone made it the first Korean film in two years to draw 10 million moviegoers, after “Exhuma” in 2024, offering a much-needed boost to an industry still mired in a prolonged downturn.
Still, it would be too much to suggest that one more 10-million-viewer title can pull Korean cinema out of its slump. Theater attendance has yet to fully recover from the sharp drop that followed the COVID-19 pandemic. Since “The Roundup” in 2022, six films, including “The King’s Warden,” have cleared the 10-million mark.
The problem is not the absence of megahits. Such blockbusters can provide a jolt, like a defibrillator to a failing heart, but they cannot by themselves restore lasting health. For that, the industry needs a broader base of solid mid-tier hits.
In that respect, “The King’s Warden” has also highlighted the changing contours of the Korean film market — the way audiences’ viewing habits have shifted and the way the industry will have to respond.
Before the pandemic, the Korean film industry clung to a kind of “too big to fail” myth — the belief that a combination of a huge budget, a famous director and a star-studded cast could not miss. Such a film might fall short of becoming a megahit, but it was not supposed to end in outright failure. Most Korean movies that drew more than 10 million viewers followed some version of that blockbuster formula.
That began to change in 2022, as the COVID-19 era receded. With the exception of “12.12: The Day,” most films made on budgets exceeding 20 billion won ($13 million) have struggled badly at the box office. The list of high-profile disappointments is long: “Emergency Declaration” (2022), “Alienoid” (2022), “Ransomed” (2023), “The Moon” (2023) and “Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy” (2025).
Smaller films, by contrast, have often posted solid returns. Notable examples include “The Roundup,” “The Roundup: No Way Out” (2023), “The Roundup: Punishment” (2024), “Pilot” (2024) and “My Daughter Is a Zombie” (2025). “The King’s Warden,” made on a budget of 10.5 billion won, also sits outside the traditional blockbuster mold.
Another notable shift has been the rise of less-established directors, while many of the industry’s once-bankable names have failed to deliver box office success. Jang Hang-jun, director of “The King’s Warden,” as well as Kim Sung-soo (“12.12: The Day”) and Jang Jae-hyun (“Exhuma”), were not newcomers, but none had previously directed a film that drew 10 million viewers. Lee Sang-yong, who directed “The Roundup” and “The Roundup: No Way Out,” and Heo Myung-haeng, who directed “The Roundup: Punishment,” each scored their first directing hits with those films.
The trend sends a clear signal: moviegoers no longer head to theaters simply because a film is made by a famed director with past blockbuster credentials. Nor are they drawn in as easily by star-studded casts and lavish budgets alone.
Instead, recent box office results suggest that audiences are responding more strongly to distinctive concepts and memorable characters. The industry may be entering an era in which films that break away from safe and familiar formulas are the ones most likely to survive in theaters.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.