IBK's film investment strategy in focus as 'The King's Warden' gains traction

A promotional display for the film “The King’s Warden” is seen at a movie theater in Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap

As “The King’s Warden” continues to perform strongly at the box office, attention is turning to the content investment strategy of Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), which financed the film, industry officials said Wednesday.

The movie is seen as a potential follow-up hit to the bank’s earlier successful investments in “Extreme Job” and “Exhuma,” both of which surpassed 10 million admissions.

According to the Korean Film Council’s ticketing database, “The King’s Warden” topped 6 million viewers on Monday, 20 days after its release.

IBK invested 1 billion won ($699,000) in the project. Should admissions exceed 10 million, the lender is expected to extend its streak of profitable film investments.

A total of 11 movies backed either directly or indirectly by IBK have crossed the 10-million-viewer threshold, including “The Admiral: Roaring Currents,” “Ode to My Father,” “Assassination,” “Veteran,” “Train to Busan,” “Parasite,” “Extreme Job” and “Exhuma.”

IBK has generated notable profits from its film investments, posting a 377 percent return on its 790 million won stake in “Extreme Job” and a 129 percent return on its 1 billion won investment in “Exhuma.”

The bank attributes these results to more than 14 years of accumulated expertise and a structured evaluation framework. In 2012, IBK became the first lender in Korea to establish a dedicated cultural content investment unit.

Projects are selected through a multilayered screening process. At the preliminary stage, the bank reviews whether directors or cast members have been involved in social controversies and assesses whether the subject matter could be politically, religiously or otherwise sensitive.

As a policy bank, IBK filters out projects that could trigger public backlash or conflict with the public interest from the outset.

It then conducts a quantitative assessment of factors such as the script, genre and rating, assigning scores that are later adjusted based on the career credentials of the director and cast before a final investment decision is made.

While IBK has historically concentrated on film and television projects, it has recently broadened its scope to include nonvisual content such as musicals, live performances and exhibitions, diversifying its exposure across the broader cultural content sector.

Investment in the cultural content sector has also continued to grow steadily, rising from 31.2 billion won in 2023 to 40.8 billion won in 2024, and further to 54.9 billion won last year.

This year, the bank plans to invest more than 50 billion won while continuing to source promising cultural content projects regardless of the commercial performance of individual works.

“We will keep identifying and backing content that combines creative quality with profitability, contributing to a sustainable growth environment for the Korean content industry,” an IBK official said.