'The King's Warden' Surges Past 12 Million Admissions―Is Director Jang Hang-jun Cashing In?

Feature film “The King's Warden” has surpassed 12 million admissions, jumping to No. 20 on Korea’s all-time box office chart. It hit the milestone just 36 days after release. Even in its sixth week, the film is drawing close to 200,000 viewers, and some in the industry are now eyeing the 15-million mark.

With a new 10-million-seller crowned, attention is on revenue and how the profits will be split. According to the Korean Film Council’s box office data on the 12th, “The King's Warden” has generated 116.1 billion won in ticket sales. The film’s production cost was 10.5 billion won, and its break-even point was 2.6 million admissions. It cleared that early and, by simple math, has exceeded roughly four times the break-even level and more than ten times its production budget.

Of course, total box office doesn’t all go to the production company. Typically, after deducting a combined 13% for the Film Development Fund and VAT, theaters and the distributor split the remainder 50/50. The distributor then takes a 10% distribution fee and shares net profits―after recouping production costs―with investors and producers. Even after fees and costs, “The King's Warden” is expected to have generated over 40 billion won in profit. The exact distributor-producer split is confidential. Directors and lead actors often have separate backend (running guarantee) or equity deals as well.

Director Jang Hang-jun and lead actor Yoo Hae-jin are reportedly on running guarantee contracts. In a phone interview on March 11 with YouTube channel VIVO TV, Jang reacted to Kim Sook’s question―“Are you making a lot of money?”―by saying, “I didn’t expect this, so I only put in a very small stake,” adding, “It pains me to think about it. I could’ve built a big building.”

Lim Eun-jung, CEO of Onda Works, which co-produced “The King's Warden” with BA Entertainment, also mentioned incentives in a March 11 media interview. “This success was a team effort, so we’re considering incentive payments,” Lim said. “We’ve started broad discussions with co-producer Jang Won-seok, and we expect to firm things up soon.”

(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)