'The King's Warden' tops weekend box office after release

The historical drama "The King's Warden" debuted at No. 1 at the weekend box office, drawing more than 760,000 moviegoers, data from the Korean Film Council showed Monday.

Directed by Jang Hang-jun, the film attracted 761,831 viewers from Friday to Sunday, bringing its cumulative audience number to over 1 million.

The movie, released Wednesday, reimagines historical events through a fictional lens, following the unlikely friendship between village chief Eom Heung-do (Yoo Hai-jin) and the young, deposed King Danjong (Park Ji-hoon) during the latter's exile in the village.

The runner-up was "Choir of God" (2025), a film about North Korea, facing international sanctions, seeking $200 million in aid by creating its first fake praise troupe. Released Dec. 31 last year, the film drew 103,799 viewers over the weekend, pushing its cumulative audience to 1.1 million.

The romance drama "Once We Were Us" (2025), which had dominated the chart for four consecutive weeks, slipped to the No. 3 spot with 82,473 viewers. Its cumulative audience reached 2.48 million.

Yonhap