Yoo Jae-suk Couldn’t Hold Back His Thoughts on the Tiger CGI in 'The Man Who Lives with the King': "If It Hadn’t Been a Box Office Hit..."

[Sportschosun reporter Jo Yoon-sun] Yoo Jae-suk bluntly commented on the tiger CGI in the film 'The Man Who Lives with the King.'

On the 13th, KBS's 'Happy Together' YouTube channel released a video titled 'A Man Living with Happy Together, the Three Men in Thick Glasses Revealed for the First Time.'

The video showed Yoo Jae-suk, Jang Hang-jun, and Yoon Jong-shin, who are serving as MCs for 'Happy Together: Glad Not to Be Alone,' the show's return project after six years. The three held a pre-meeting and shared a candid conversation as close friends.

During the talk, Yoo Jae-suk said, "To be honest, enough time has passed that I can talk about it now, but the tiger CGI that so many people mentioned was really... If the film had not even reached 10 million admissions, Hang-jun hyung would have been remembered for this forever." He then added, "But once it hit 10 million, even the tiger suddenly looked great. That became a topic too." Yoon Jong-shin laughed and agreed, saying, "When I saw the tiger CGI at the early screening, I thought, 'Oh, this is a comedy.' I figured, 'King Danjong will be really funny later on.'"

Jang Hang-jun explained, "The original release was set for May. But after an internal screening went well, we decided to bring it forward to Lunar New Year, and there really was no time." He added, "If it had not been released then, it would not have turned out this way." Yoon Jong-shin also agreed, saying, "That's right. Timing is very important."

After 'The Man Who Lives with the King,' Jang Hang-jun rose to the ranks of directors with 10 million-ticket hits and showed off in front of the two men. Watching him, Yoon Jong-shin joked, "Didn't I say on 'You Quiz on the Block'? There is only one way left for Jang Hang-jun to go now."

Jang Hang-jun responded, "I will make a soft landing. I will come down slowly. Everyone comes down eventually." He then admitted, "Honestly, this is just between us, but it feels like I only got lucky once."

Yoo Jae-suk praised him, saying, "It was not just the story. The casting was brilliant too. You looked at Park Ji-hoon and immediately said he was King Danjong, right?" Jang Hang-jun replied, "Casting is directing," and added, "Casting Yoo Ji-tae as Han Myeong-hoe was innovative. And Yoo Hae-jin, who looks like he walked straight out of a history textbook. That is realism."

After hearing that, Yoo Jae-suk said, "As expected, when Hae-jin does a historical drama, he should not go inside the palace. People like us belong outside the palace." Yoon Jong-shin chimed in, "Not even inside the Four Great Gates. Outside the gates," drawing laughter.

Yoo Jae-suk also said of the film's success, "This is not only a joy for the people who have worked with Director Jang Hang-jun. It is a joy for the entire film industry. In times like these, many people in the industry were really happy."

Jang Hang-jun said, "Since the beginning of this year, Korean films have been recovering, and theater attendance has increased by about 40 percent compared with last year." Yoo Jae-suk then said, "There should be a 'Jang Hang-jun Hall' at the theater." Jang Hang-jun jokingly put himself down, saying, "That place should only screen films with bad CGI," which drew more laughter.

Meanwhile, 'The Man Who Lives with the King' is set in Cheongnyeongpo Cape in 1457. It tells the story of village head Eom Heung-do, played by Yoo Hae-jin, who voluntarily goes into exile to revive his village, and the young King Danjong, played by Park Ji-hoon, who was dethroned and exiled. The film drew 16.89 million viewers and ranked second among the highest-grossing Korean films of all time.

However, when it was first released, viewers repeatedly said they were disappointed by the quality of the CGI in the tiger scenes. The production company later revised those scenes and released an improved version through IPTV and OTT platforms.