From Seoul to Hollywood: the man behind “King of Kings”
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In 1989, a small art academy in Gwangju opened its doors around 5 a.m. A high school student named Jang Seong-ho, who had closed up the night before, quietly let himself back in. He couldn’t afford tuition, so he paid his dues by cleaning and running errands. When he needed to, he took leftover drawing paper from the classroom and borrowed paint from friends. When his father passed away in Jang’s sophomore year of high school, he had to face reality as the fourth out of five siblings: figure life out on his own.
That became his motivation in life. The same self-reliance that got him through art school eventually led him to Hollywood—and to success. Now 55-years-old, Director Jang is the man behind King of Kings, a new animated film that made box office history for Korean animation. In a recent interview with The Chosun Ilbo, Jang said, “For someone like me, who was always fighting to survive, failure was never an option. What helped was constantly trying to view myself objectively, no matter the circumstances.”
The film, which portrays the life of Jesus, initially flew under the radar before its North American release in April. Everything changed after opening weekend: it debuted at No. 2 at the box office with $19 million in ticket sales. This surpassed the $14.5 million debut of another similar animated film: The Prince of Egypt, 1998. To date, King of Kings has grossed $60 million in North America, beating out Parasite, 2019, which earned $53 million in the region. The achievement stems from Jang’s belief—held even 10 years ago, when everyone dismissed the idea of entering Hollywood as a fantasy—that global success was objectively possible.
Jang’s confidence was grounded in years of experience. While studying visual design at Hongik University, he illustrated company newsletters for more than 60 firms to fund his tuition and worked on post-production for films. His directorial debut came with The Gate of Destiny, 1996, followed by visual effects work on major Korean films like Tidal Wave and The Admiral: Roaring Currents, as well as dramas including Happy Time, The Legend and My Love from the Star. “I learned how to control the rhythm of an audience—when to hold their breath, when to let go—by cutting movie trailers,” he said. Since working on The Foul King, 2000, Jang has created over 450 trailers.
By 2015, he set his sights on a directorial debut in Hollywood, aiming for a nationwide release. Friends and colleagues said it was unrealistic—at the time, BTS and Bong Joon-ho were unknown. But Jang didn’t see Hollywood as a distant world. While working on the CGI for Happy Time, The Legend, he built connections with staff at Wētā FX (famous for The Lord of the Rings), who later helped him navigate Hollywood through his work on the American TV series Spartacus. By his side was former Disney casting director Jamie Thomason, who was initially skeptical. “If the script’s weak, I can’t back it.” Thomason changed his mind after reading Jang’s screenplay. “I never imagined a story about Jesus could be this entertaining,” he said, joining the project enthusiastically. Soon after, big names like Uma Thurman and Mark Hamill signed on to the cast.
However, to Jang, his biggest supporter was cinematographer Kim Woo-hyung. Kim was a senior from his middle school and the man behind the BAFTA TV Craft Award for Cinematography (Photography & Lighting) of Park Chan-wook’s The Little Drummer Girl, 2018. Kim had led the virtual production of King of Kings. “Director Kim is my greatest benefactor,” said Jang. “Just as I was strengthened by his faith in me, I made King of Kings as a universal story—about love and trust that transcends religion.”
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