왕의 남자 (The King and The Clown) International Cut in the Making

The Good (Jang-Saeng), The Bad (Yeonsan), and the... Pretty (Gong-Gil)?

Lee Joon-Ik's 왕의 남자 (The King and The Clown) has become a cultural phenomenon by now: seen by over 10 Million viewers including Mr. President, used like a toy to either support the screen quota reduction or the opposite, starting debates about the changing values of Korean society vis-a-vis homosexuality, and just bringing all sorts of people (including older viewers who rarely watch films) back to theaters for another 'feel good' experience. Yet, we'll probably have to wait until the Summer for the super-duper DVD release, or if you're lucky, a little earlier via Film Festivals (come on Cannes, show some balls and program a film like this, or is it too 'commercial'?). Director Lee commented a few months ago than any International acceptance of the film was essentially out of his hands, but it seems something is moving, or even changing on that front.

A new cut of the film is currently being edited, with an additional 20 Minutes of footage (from the current 119 Minutes version). President Jung Jin-Wan of Eagle Pictures announced that these additional Minutes will flesh a little more Prince Yeonsan's figure, and put more focus on the Joseon Dynasty (things which Koreans are obviously familiar with, as Yeonsan was amongst the most detested and infamous rulers the nation ever experienced). More than a Director's Cut, this is an International Version, as it is geared towards viewers a little less familiar with the history surrounding the events, making them relate to it a little more than they'd expect. The original cut was actually 2 hours and 40 Minutes, but was edited down to 2 hours not to cause problems with screenings. Because you see... back then they only expected 2.5-3 Million viewers, so every Minute counted.

Now, why should you care about that? Because [insert schoolgirl-like giggling] this baby will make it to DVD (Normal + International Cut)! Lee recently revealed they were going to pay special attention to the DVD Release of the film, and this is one of the big surprises they were hinting at. By early next week, we'll be probably dealing with the second most successful Korean film of all time, as beating 실미도 (Silmido)'s record is just a matter of days. So this Summer there might be a World Cup, Bong Joon-Ho's 괴물 (The Host) and my grandma's 60th birthday, but also those clowns and their king on DVD. Finally.

[Source: Yahoo Korea]