ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Entertainment devider Movies and TV devider Hit Korean film 'The King's Warden' achieves milestone: 10 million moviegoers

Hit Korean film 'The King's Warden' achieves milestone: 10 million moviegoers

Published Mar 6, 2026 08:25 pm
"The King's Warden" stars Park Ji-hoon (right) and Yoo Hae-jin (X/Showbox)
"The King's Warden" stars Park Ji-hoon (right) and Yoo Hae-jin (X/Showbox)

The hit Korean film “The King’s Warden” has achieved the coveted milestone of reaching 10 million moviegoers. 

"The Man Living with the King," which depicts the warm bond between a deposed king and ordinary citizens, reached 10 million cumulative admissions at about 6:30 p.m. KST on March 6, becoming the 34th film in Korean film history to reach 10 million moviegoers.

It reached the feat in 31 days since it was released in South Korea on Feb. 4. 

This is the first film in South Korea to reach 10 million moviegoers this year. This is also the first time that a film has reached 10 million total admissions in 22 months in South Korea since Ma Dong Seok’s “The Roundup: Punishment” in 2024. 

No film reached 10 million cinema admissions in South Korea in 2025. 

Park Ji-hoon (X)
Park Ji-hoon (X)
The cast, director and crew of
The cast, director and crew of "The King's Warden" (X/Showbox)

Based on data from the Korean Film Council’s Korea Box-office Information System, as of March 5, "The Man Living with the King” recorded 9.77 million in total admissions and box office revenue of $63.25 million. 

“The King’s Warden” reached eight million and nine million moviegoers in South Korea in a two-day span. 

It reached the eight-million audience mark on March 1, adding 817,207 in total admissions to reach 8,484,426 moviegoers. . 

The following day, March 2, the film reached the nine-million mark, watched by 728,980 people for a total admission of 9,213,406 moviegoers.

“The King’s Warden” stars K-pop idol and actor Park Ji-hoon, Yoo Hae-jin, Yoo Ji-tae, Jeon Mi-do, Lee Joon-hyuk, and Ahn Jae-hong.

The film is set in 1457 during the Joseon Dynasty in Korea and tells the story of King Danjong (Park Ji-hoon), who is betrayed by his uncle and dethroned. He is exiled to Cheongnyeongpo, Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, and encounters the village chief, Eom Heung-do (Yoo Hae-jin).  

Because of the film, tourists have flocked to  Yeongwol in Gangwon Province where King Danjong spent his exile. 

Korean President Lee Jae-myung and his wife, First Lady Kim Hea Kyung, watched “The King’s Warden” during “Seollal” or Lunar New Year.

ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.