''The King'' () is a 2017 South Korean

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

crime drama film In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

starring

Jo In-sung Zo In-sung (, born July 28, 1981) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the Korean television dramas ''Something Happened in Bali'' (2004), '' Spring Day'' (2005), '' That Winter, the Wind Blows'' (2013), and ''I ...

Jung Woo-sung Jung Woo-sung (born March 20, 1973) is a South Korean actor and the first Korean UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. Jung started his career as a fashion model, rising to stardom and teenage cult status with the gangster movie '' Beat'' (1997), for which ...

, Bae Seong-woo,

Ryu Jun-yeol Ryu Jun-yeol (; born September 25, 1986) is a South Korean actor, activist, and photographer. Ryu began his acting career in independent films, and then rose to prominence through his breakthrough role in the critically acclaimed television se ...

Kim Eui-sung Kim Eui-sung (; born December 17, 1965) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in films ''The Day a Pig Fell into the Well'' (1996), ''Office'' (2015), '' The Exclusive: Beat the Devil's Tattoo'' (2015) and ''Train to Busan'' (2016); ...

, and

Kim Ah-joong Kim Ah-joong (born October 16, 1982) is a South Korean actress, model and singer. She is best known for playing the main character in the romantic comedy '' 200 Pounds Beauty''. Education Kim graduated from Korea University with a master's degr ...

Synopsis

Story about Tae-soo (

) who's born in a poor family, decides to become a prosecutor after learning that power is the most important thing in life and, the biggest symbol of power in the 90’s. After entering the most prestigious law school, experiencing democratic resistance in Korea, Tae-soo finally reaches his goal of becoming a prosecutor but his life is no better than a salary man. By chance, he joins a clique of the powerful prosecutors with wealth and authority. He finally gets a taste of a life of the top hierarchy, but as he enjoys the sweetness of supremacy, he also sees the cruel side of it.

Cast

as Park Tae-soo *

as Han Kang-shik * Bae Seong-woo as Yang Dong-chul *

as Choi Doo-il *

as Kim Eung-soo *

as Sang-hee *Jang Myung-gab as Um Hyun-gi *

Jung Eun-chae Jung Eun-chae (born Jung Sol-mi on November 24, 1986) is a South Korean actress, model and TV host. Jung began her career as a model, then made her acting breakthrough as the titular character in '' Nobody's Daughter Haewon'' (2013), a film by ...

as Park Shi-yeon *

Kim So-jin Kim So-jin (born 1979) is a South Korean actress. She is known for playing a prosecutor in crime drama '' The King'' (2017), for which she received critical acclaim and won several awards, including the Blue Dragon Film Award, Grand Bell Awa ...

as Ahn Hee-yeon *

Hwang Seung-eon Hwang Seung-eon (; born October 31, 1988) is a South Korean actress, model and singer. She was a member of the co-ed project group Temporary Idols under YG Entertainment. She has appeared in numerous films, television series, variety shows, and ...

as Jun Hee-sung * Shin Ryu-jin as Ji Min *

Sung Dong-il Sung Dong-il (born April 27, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Sung made his acting debut in theater in 1987, then was recruited at the 1991 SBS open talent auditions. He rose to fame as the comic, Jeolla dialect-speaking character "Red Socks" in ...

as Tae-soo's home room teacher *Jung Sung-mo *

Lee Joo-yeon Lee Joo-yeon (born March 19, 1987), formerly known mononymously as Jooyeon, is a South Korean actress and singer. She is best known for being a former member of the girl group After School. Since leaving After School, she has focused primaril ...

*Cha Yeob * Park Jung-min *Jung Da-un *Lee Yeol-eum *Choi Gwi-hwa *

Oh Dae-hwan Oh Dae-hwan (born July 5, 1979) is a South Korean actor. He appeared in TV series such as '' Squad 38'' (2016), ''Shopaholic Louis'' (2016), ''Radiant Office ''Radiant Office'' () is a 2017 South Korean television series starring Go Ah-sung ...

* Han Soo-yeon *Lim Hak-sun *Seo Wang-seok *Lee Kyu-ho *Choi Yeong-do *Mi Seok *Lee Ho-cheol *Kim Koo-kyung *Park Ji-hong * Jo Woo-jin as Park Tae-soo's detective

Production

First script reading took place in late January, 2016. Filming began on February 4 and finished July 3, 2016. Filming took place in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

Daejeon Daejeon () is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of 1.5 million as of 2019. Located in the central-west region of South Korea alongside forested hills and the Geum River, the city is known both for its technology an ...

and

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

Promotion and release

The film's first trailer has broken the record for most views for a Korean movie trailer with more than 7.17 million views in seven days within its release. The film was released in South Korea on January 18, 2017. The film had a limited release in North America on January 27, 2017.

Reception

The film was number-one on its opening in

, with 1.85 million admissions and in gross. In total, the film gathered 5.31 million spectators and grossed nationwide, making it the 7th highest-grossing South Korean film in 2017.

List of 2017 box office number-one films in South Korea A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
The King
' on Naver Movies *
The King
' on Daum *
The King
' on MOVIST {{DEFAULTSORT:King, The (2017 Korean film) 2017 films 2010s Korean-language films South Korean action drama films South Korean crime drama films South Korean political drama films Next Entertainment World films 2017 crime drama films South Korean crime action films Political action films Films directed by Han Jae-rim 2010s South Korean films