‘The King’s Warden’ Surpasses 10 Million Viewers With Onda Works’ First Film... SHOWBOX Says, “It Took Less Than a Year From Shooting to Release”

[Financial News] The film The King’s Warden has surpassed 10 million moviegoers.
Distributor SHOWBOX announced that The King’s Warden drew more than 10 million cumulative viewers as of 6:30 p.m. on the 6th, the 31st day since its release. It is the 34th film released in Korea to reach the 10-million-viewer milestone. The King’s Warden was directed by Jang Hang-jun, co-produced by the new film company Onda Works and BA Entertainment under SLL, and financed and distributed by SHOWBOX.
It is also the sixth film to surpass 10 million admissions since COVID-19. The Roundup (2022), The Roundup: No Way Out (2023), 12.12: The Day (2023), Exhuma (2024), and The Roundup: Punishment (2024) each attracted more than 10 million viewers.
For Onda Works CEO Lim Eun-jung, the film became a 10-million-viewer blockbuster with her very first project after going independent. BA Entertainment, which produced the The Roundup series, now has its fourth 10-million-viewer film in the post-COVID era. For SHOWBOX, this is its second 10-million-viewer title following Exhuma, and director Jang Hang-jun has finally joined the ranks of 10-million-viewer directors 23 years after his debut.

The project began when CEO Lim proposed that director Jang take on a story idea she had personally developed. The first draft of the script was written by screenwriter Hwang Seon-gu, known for Anarchist from Colony and Little Forest. Jang initially did not intend to direct the film himself, but as he shared feedback on the script, the producer continued to persuade him, and he eventually agreed to direct. After that, the director, producer, and production team lived and worked together in a camp-style setting to further develop the screenplay.
Because Onda Works was effectively a one-person company at the time, veteran production house BA Entertainment joined the project. BA Entertainment CEO Jang Won-seok, who produced the The Roundup series as well as Taxi Driver 3 and Big Bet, has a long-standing relationship with director Jang, dating back to when they first met as a junior writer and a rookie production staffer on the 1996 film The Adventures of Mrs. Park.
Explaining why SHOWBOX decided to invest in The King’s Warden, Jo Soo-bin, head of public relations at the distributor, stated, “The biggest factor was that the script was highly accessible and easy to read, yet still very compelling,” adding, “The cast lineup was strong, and internally there was rare consensus and a very positive mood, so the investment decision came together without much disagreement.”
The film is also considered unusual in terms of how quickly it was produced. Jo said, “We started principal photography in mid-March last year, and including shooting and post-production, the film was completed in less than a year,” and added, “From the start of filming to the final product, it was a project that moved forward at a very fast pace.”
How did the distribution strategy play out? Jo explained, “Exhuma is a genre film with a very clear identity and an existing fan base for the director, so audiences flocked to it quickly from the opening weekend. In contrast, The King’s Warden had a relatively gentle start, but its audience grew steadily through word of mouth.”
These days, unless a film is part of a major franchise, it is more common for box office numbers to build gradually through word of mouth rather than explode from the first day.
With that in mind, the release date was set for just before the Lunar New Year holiday. Jo explained, “The period right before the holiday is usually a slow season for theaters, but we chose a strategy of opening early to build word of mouth and then drawing in audiences during the holiday itself,” and added, “We also felt that a historical drama suitable for family viewing would be a good fit for the Lunar New Year period.”
According to CGV, the age breakdown of audiences for The King’s Warden shows that viewers in their 40s accounted for the largest share at 27%, followed by those in their 30s at 25%, 20s at 21%, and 50s and older at 18%. The film’s appeal is not concentrated in any single generation, but spread evenly across age groups. Its CGV Golden Egg Index, which reflects audience satisfaction, remains high at 97%.
Hwang Jae-hyun, head of strategy support at CGV, analyzed, “A story that families can enjoy together and that resonates across generations has been the driving force behind the film’s success,” and added, “As positive word of mouth spread after the release, the audience base gradually expanded.” He went on, “If it officially joins the ranks of 10-million-viewer films, that will generate even more buzz and word-of-mouth momentum, and given that there are no standout competing titles in theaters for the time being, we expect its box office performance to grow even further.”
jashin@fnnews.com Shin Jin-ah Reporter