By Park Jin-young, JoyNews24 — The Man Who Lives with the King has surpassed 16 million admissions and is charging toward second place on the all-time South Korean box-office chart.
According to the Korea Integrated Computerized Ticketing System (KOBIS), as of midnight on April 6 the film drew 94,373 admissions on April 5, placing it second for the day. Its cumulative admissions now stand at 16,091,664.
![Actors Park Ji-hoon and Yoo Hae-jin give compelling performances in The Man Who Lives with the King. [Photo=Showbox Co., Ltd.]](https://contents-cdn.viewus.co.kr/image/2026/04/CP-2023-0079/image-979bfeb2-f8f3-47d5-a9d7-bbd88a4cf62b.jpeg)
Having passed 16 million admissions 61 days after release, The Man Who Lives with the King remains third on the all-time domestic box-office list behind The Admiral: Roaring Currents (17,610,000) and Extreme Job (16,260,000). It trails Extreme Job by roughly 175,000 admissions. Although daily attendance has tapered off, the film has retained a high ranking despite new releases, and industry observers expect it to overtake Extreme Job and move into second place on the all-time chart this week.
Set in 1457 at Cheongnyeongpo, the film follows a village chief who volunteers for exile to revive his town and a young, dethroned monarch sent into exile. The drama centers on King Danjong’s story — the first Korean film to focus primarily on his fate. Yoo Hae-jin, Korea’s top-grossing actor, plays village chief Um Heung-do, while breakout star Park Ji-hoon portrays the deposed King Danjong (Yi Hong-wi). The supporting cast — including Yoo Ji-tae, Jeon Mi-do, Lee Jun-hyuk, Park Ji-hwan and Ahn Jae-hong — delivers a finely tuned ensemble performance.
The film ignited a \"Danjong\" phenomenon and reached 10 million admissions just 31 days after release. It was the first Korean film to hit the 10-million mark in two years since Crime City 4 and is the fourth historical drama to do so. Yoo Hae-jin now claims his fifth 10-million film with The Man Who Lives with the King, following The King and the Clown, Veteran, A Taxi Driver and Pamyo. Park Ji-hoon, Yoo Ji-tae, Jeon Mi-do and Kim Min also earned the \"10-million actor\" distinction for the first time. The movie currently ranks third on the all-time box-office list and leads domestically in cumulative revenue.
The daily box-office leader was Project Hail Mary, which drew 116,950 admissions and now has a cumulative total of 1,635,252. In third place was Final Investigation, starring Bae Sung-woo and Jung Ga-ram, which added 13,326 admissions for a cumulative 56,295.
