The film The Man Who Lives with the King continues its explosive momentum in its fourth week of release, now on the verge of becoming a “10 million viewership” movie. Attention is now on how high its final score will rise beyond just breaking the 10 million mark, with director Jang Hang-jun’s “10 million pledge” gaining renewed interest.
According to the Korean Film Council’s integrated computer network for ticket sales on the 1st, The Man Who Lives with the King recorded a cumulative audience of 8,483,889.
The film remarkably drew 816,668 viewers in a single day during its fourth week, defying the common trend of declining audiences in the 3rd to 4th week after release. This remarkable performance suggests that reaching 10 million viewers is just a matter of time. With the expectation that “10 million is already a given,” curiosity is piqued about how much higher the final audience number will go.
Director Jang Hang-jun’s past comments are also resurfacing. In January, he appeared on Bae Sung-jae’s Ten and made a 10 million audience pledge.
At that time, he humorously remarked, “Reaching 10 million isn’t that easy,” while waving it off, adding, “There’s no way it’ll reach 10 million, but if by any chance it does, I’ll change my phone number, rename myself, and get plastic surgery so nobody recognizes me. I’m even considering naturalization elsewhere. I hope nobody looks for me.”
This was because even Jang himself did not anticipate such success for the film. His previous works like Forgotten and Rebound did not meet expectations. However, as the film climbs swiftly towards the 10 million mark, online reactions are filled with a mix of surprise and anticipation at the prospect of Jang becoming a “10 million director.”
Notably, Jang is set to reappear on Bae Sung-jae’s Ten where he had initially mentioned his 10 million pledge. On the 1st, SBS PowerFM announced on its official account, “New hit director Jang Hang-jun, now on the verge of fulfilling his pledges to change his name, undergo plastic surgery, or even naturalize elsewhere, will appear on ‘Bae Ten.'”
With 10 million views imminent, all eyes are on what reflections Jang will share and how he plans to fulfill his bold pledges of “changing his phone number, name, and naturalization.”
Meanwhile, the film The Man Who Lives with the King, which premiered on the 4th, is a historical piece starting from 1457 Cheongryeongpo, depicting the stories of village chief Eom Heung-do (played by Yoo Hae-jin), who volunteered for exile to revive the village, and young deposed king Danjong Yi Hong-ui (played by Park Ji-hoon).
