The film "The Man Who Lives with the King" has surpassed a cumulative audience of 15 million. Before its release, the prevailing assessment was that it was weaker than "HUMINT," its rival during the Lunar New Year holiday season. Director Jang Hang-jun of "The Man Who Lives with the King" had a poor track record at the box office, while "HUMINT" director Ryoo Seung-wan was already a "10-million director." Based solely on the directors' past box-office records, it was a David-versus-Goliath battle. Moreover, because "The Man Who Lives with the King" drew on the well-known historical events of the Gyeyujeongnan coup and King Danjong, it was not considered a film audiences needed to see in theaters. The emphasis on humanism rather than the palace intrigue that had been the conventional formula for historical film hits was also cited as a factor making box-office success hard to predict.
Yet a reversal occurred over the Lunar New Year holiday. "The Man Who Lives with the King" surged far ahead of "HUMINT" and gained box-office momentum. Even so, the industry gave the film low odds of reaching the 10-million-viewer milestone. Annual theater attendance had halved to around 100 million since the COVID-19 pandemic, and audiences were simply not returning to cinemas. Defying those forecasts, "The Man Who Lives with the King" climbed to third place on the all-time box-office chart and is now eyeing the No. 1 spot held by "The Admiral: Roaring Currents" (17.61 million viewers).
The record-breaking run of "The Man Who Lives with the King" was possible precisely because it did not follow the conventional formula for film success. In particular, audiences responded enthusiastically to its portrayal of King Danjong — widely perceived as a weak and passive monarch — as a proactive and determined figure. The film also delivered deep emotional impact by using cinematic imagination to reconstruct Danjong's life in exile, a chapter history left largely unrecorded, while highlighting the warm stories of the common people, including Eom Heung-do, who tried to protect the king.
"The Man Who Lives with the King" precisely tapped into the emotional resonance audiences craved, offering a renewed reason to visit the theater. Its success carries significant implications at a time when global online streaming services (OTT) have seized the initiative in the content market for films and dramas. The film demonstrated that audiences will gladly go to theaters when a story offers shared values and emotional connection worth experiencing together — even without a massive production budget. Ultimately, it is the power of storytelling that draws audiences back to cinemas.
