The King and the Clown

The King and the Clown
Theatrical poster
Hangul	왕의 남자
Hanja	王의 男子
Literal meaning	The King's Man
Revised Romanization	Wang-ui namja
McCune–Reischauer	Wangŭi Namja
Directed by	Lee Joon-ik
Written by	Choi Seok-hwan
Based on	Yi by Kim Tae-woong
Produced by	Jeong Jin-wan Lee Joon-ik
Starring	Kam Woo-sung Jung Jin-young Lee Joon-gi
Cinematography	Ji Kil-woong
Edited by	Kim Sang-bum Kim Jae-bum
Music by	Lee Byung-woo
Production companies	Cineworld Eagle Pictures
Distributed by	Cinema Service CJ Entertainment (international)
Release date	December 29, 2005 (2005-12-29)
Running time	119 minutes
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean
Budget	US$3.5 million
Box office	US$74.5 million

The King and the Clown (Korean: 왕의 남자) is a 2005 South Korean historical drama film starring Kam Woo-sung, Jung Jin-young, and Lee Joon-gi. It was adapted from the 2000 stage play, Yi ("You") about Yeonsangun of Joseon, a Joseon dynasty king and a court clown who mocks him. It was released on 29 December 2005, runs for 119 minutes; and distributed domestically by Cinema Service and internationally by CJ Entertainment.^[1]

The movie is referred to by various titles. It is sometimes known as The King's Man (the literal English translation of the Korean title). In Chinese, the title is "王的男人" or "王和小丑", and in Japanese, it is known as "王の男". It is also known as The Royal Jester in English, as the movie's English translator found it more fitting than the original title.^[2]

The film was chosen as South Korea's official submission for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.^[3] With over 12.3 million tickets sold, it was the most watched movie of South Korea of the year,^[4] as well the tenth highest-grossing film in South Korea.