With The King's Warden racing toward 10 million admissions, director Jang Hang-jun delivered a candid, headline-making reality check on Korea’s film industry.
Recently, Jang appeared as a guest on culinary researcher Lee Hye-jung’s YouTube channel. In the video, he calmly discussed the movie’s box-office run and opened up about what he’s felt over more than 30 years in the business.
At the time of filming, the movie had already surpassed 4 million admissions. When Lee asked, "So how much have you made so far?" Jang laughed and replied, "I’m bad at math. I don’t really know exactly how much I’ve earned."
He went on to say that the film’s runaway success shocked him most. "It’s been a little over 30 years since I started this work, and I’ve never had a project do this well," he said. "It takes almost four years to prepare one film. Because you work on it so long and then release it to the world, it feels like doing four years of farming all at once."
Jang also addressed the industry’s uncertainty. "If that harvest fails, there might not be a next chance," he noted. "So sometimes the movie scene feels like a cultural Kangwon Land. In the end, it has aspects similar to gambling," he quipped.
As for why he keeps making movies, Jang admitted, "It’s not a job where you can make a ton of money, and there aren’t many opportunities," but added, "I keep doing it because I love films."
Meanwhile, as of the 5th, The King's Warden has surpassed 9.77 million admissions and is on the verge of breaking the 10 million mark.