Box Office Success of "A Man Who Feeds the King" Drives Surge in Sales of Danjong-Related Books

Book Sales with "Danjong" Keyword Surge 2,565% in a Month Following Movie Release

As the movie "A Man Who Feeds the King" is poised to surpass 10 million viewers, book sales related to King Danjong, the sixth monarch of the Joseon Dynasty, and the history of the Joseon royal family have seen a significant increase.

Actor Jihoon Park as Lee Hongwi in the movie 'The Man Living with the King'. Photo by Naver Movie

According to the cultural content platform Yes24 on March 5, sales of books with the keyword "Danjong" surged by 2,565.4% year-on-year during the month following the film's release on February 4. This upward trend was seen across various genres, from children's history books to the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty and classic novels, indicating that the movie's popularity is translating into increased demand for related reading materials.

In particular, Kwangsoo Lee's classic novel "Tanjong's Tragedy" has been rediscovered since the film's release, with sales soaring approximately 80 times compared to the same period last year. The edition published by Saeum Publishing this February saw a 336.8% increase in its third week after the movie's release compared to the previous week, and continued to grow by an additional 18.1% in the fourth week.

The "First Edition Tanjong's Tragedy" edition, which restores the original 1954 cover design, is also attracting attention. The exclusive Yes24 merchandise set recorded sales roughly twice as high as the book alone, with buyers in their 40s and 50s accounting for over 64% of the total.

First edition set of Kwangsoo Lee's classic novel Death of Danjong. Photo by Yes24

Sales of Danjong-related books also rose sharply in the children's history genre. "Tears of a Young King" saw a year-on-year increase of 4,614.3%, making it the top-selling Danjong-themed book, while "Naked Korean History 12: The Tragic Siblings Danjong and Princess Gyeonghye" also experienced sales growth after the film's release.

Interest is expanding beyond Danjong's personal story to the broader history of the Joseon royal family. "Annals of the Joseon Dynasty 3: Sejong, Munjong, Danjong" recorded an approximately 800% increase in sales from the previous year, and "The Sorrow of Danjong, The Tears of Sejong" saw sales climb by about 2,700%.

Cho Sounyoung, Head of the Book Business Division at Yes24, commented, "Cultural content such as movies and dramas consistently spark interest in particular historical figures and events, leading to a steady increase in the search for and reading of related books." She added, "This month, we plan to hold a 'Reading the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty Together' book club through the reading community 'Sarak,' and will host a related book reading challenge."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.