Director Jang Hang-jun's 'The King and the Clown' surpassed 10 million cumulative viewers on March 6.

It has been about 22 months since the last 10 million viewer film, 'Crime City 4'.

The Korean film industry has faced significant challenges during this time, as industry insiders are well aware. There have been constant news about the decline in audience numbers and the pressure from OTT platforms.

It is the 34th film to reach 10 million viewers in history, and the 25th for Korean cinema.

It is the fourth historical drama to achieve this, following 'Myeongryang', 'Masquerade', and 'The King's Man'.

If you think about what these four films have in common, the answer becomes clear. They all focus on human stories from history.

CGV Golden Egg Index is 97%, and the Naver rating is 8.94. This truly indicates that the audience loves it. These are not numbers that can be created through marketing.

King Danjong. The 6th king of Joseon. The last four months of his exile at Cheongnyeongpo in Yeongwol.

Typically, historical dramas would be filled with power struggles, plot twists, and action sequences.

However, this film was different. It centered on the friendship between village chief Eom Heung-do (played by Yoo Hae-jin) and the young king (played by Park Ji-hoon).

To be honest, when I first heard about this project, I doubted, "Will this sell?"

Would today's audience, especially the younger generation, sit through a slow historical drama? But my prediction was wrong.

Why was I wrong? Because of fatigue.

Fatigue from excessive stimulation. Audiences, tired from YouTube, Reels, and TikTok, were actually craving slow and warm stories. This phenomenon is similar in the U.S. As the streaming wars intensify, paradoxically, the value of "just a good movie" increases.

Director Jang Hang-jun has long been seen as a "talented director who is distant from box office success." This time, he completely overturned that image.

What I focus on is the marketing strategy of this film. It did not promote grand spectacles.

It consistently pushed a simple message of "a warm story of friendship."

These days, content marketing tends to become overly complicated, but this film returned to basics.

The distributor Showbox sees this as a significant achievement. The arrival of a 10 million viewer film after a 22-month gap means more than just profit.

It proves that "Korean audiences still come to theaters."

There have been claims that OTT would kill theaters, but the theater experience itself is special, and if the content can provide that experience, audiences are still willing to pay. Therefore, I believe the success of 'The King and the Clown' is an important point for the Korean film industry.

It shows that story, not spectacle, and authenticity, not flashiness, resonate. And audiences are still waiting for "good movies."

It is said that weekend audience numbers are steadily increasing, so it will be interesting to see how far the final score goes.