Man Living With King Premieres April 29

The movie "The Man Who Lived with the King" will be released on various OTT platforms and IPTV starting April 29th with an improved CG version. The tiger CG in the early part of the film, which disrupted audience immersion in the theatrical version, has been newly revised.

"The Man Who Lived with the King" is set in Cheongnyeongpo, Yeongwol, Gangwon Province in 1457. It depicts the human bond between Ho-jang Eom Heung-do (Yoo Hae-jin), who voluntarily exiled himself to revitalize the village, and the young former king Lee Hong-wi (Park Ji-hoon), who was driven from the throne. The film was a box office success, surpassing 16 million viewers after its release, but there were persistent criticisms that the quality of the tiger CG appearing at the beginning of the movie was lower than the overall standard of the film.

These criticisms of the CG quality went beyond mere visual discomfort, further disappointing audiences by weakening the tiger's role as a dramatic device that leads a pivotal scene where the young king confronts his destiny. Lead actor Park Ji-hoon also mentioned this point during a broadcast appearance.

The fundamental reason for the CG controversy was the tight production schedule. The film, originally scheduled for a May or June release, was moved up by 2-3 months to coincide with the Lunar New Year holiday, resulting in insufficient post-production time. Specifically, there was an absolute lack of rendering time needed to create the tiger's fur. The director and production team were aware of this situation but stated they had no choice but to meet the release date according to the distributor's decision.

Im Eun-jung, CEO of production company Ondaworks, referred to the CG revision work as "an opportunity created by the audience," and stated that they were able to reach a consensus with the distributor on the necessity of CG revision. Distributor Showbox also decided to reflect the CG company's intentions and incorporate the improved version in time for the IPTV release.