Director Jang Hang-jun had never made a period film before. His first attempt just became one of the biggest Korean movies of all time.
“The Man Who Lives with the King” (왕과 사는 남자), starring Yoo Hae-jin, Park Ji-hoon, Yoo Ji-tae and Jeon Mi-do, opened in Korean theaters on February 4, 2026. By March 6, just 31 days after release, the film crossed 10 million admissions, becoming the 34th Korean or international film ever to reach that milestone in Korean theaters — and the 25th Korean-made film to do so — according to a report by Korea Daily. The achievement came 22 months after “The Roundup: Punishment” last hit the same mark, making it the first Korean film in nearly two years to cross 10 million admissions.
The film’s success is especially notable for its genre: period dramas rarely reach the 10-million mark. “The Man Who Lives with the King” became only the fourth sageuk to do so, following “The King and the Clown” (2005), “Masquerade” (2012) and “Roaring Currents” (2014) — placing it in exceptionally rare company for a genre more often associated with prestige than blockbuster numbers.
The film kept climbing well past its milestone moment. By April 11, cumulative admissions reached 16.28 million, according to MBC News, placing it second in all-time Korean box office admissions and first in total box office revenue among Korean films. Box office trackers reported the film’s cumulative gross had climbed to roughly 158.7 billion won on 16.44 million admissions as its theatrical run continued into the following months.
The film’s popularity has spilled well beyond the box office. As previously reported, its open-air filming set at Mungyeong Saejae has become a tourism draw in its own right, with visitor spending in the surrounding Mungyeong area up 13.8 percent year-on-year as fans seek out the physical set where the film was shot — one of several Korean regions now benefiting economically from the country’s growing appetite for “screen tourism.”
For Jang, whose earlier credits include the film “30 Days,” the sageuk genre proved an unexpectedly successful new direction — and for Korean cinema more broadly, the film’s run offered a rare data point showing that historical drama, done right, can still draw blockbuster-scale crowds in an era increasingly dominated by franchise sequels and international releases.
Source: Korea Daily (미주중앙일보), March 6, 2026; MBC News, April 11, 2026.
