Chapter 55: Global Rankings
April passed, and May arrived.
Preparations for The Night the King Died became noticeably more concrete.
Meanwhile, preparations for the NetPlus release of Before the Light Reaches continued.
The English subtitle review copy arrived first.
Several days later, translation materials in other languages were added.
Geonwoo couldn’t personally check every language.
Instead, he used the English version as a basis to confirm that the proper nouns and important dialogue had been translated correctly.
A new poster was also created for NetPlus.
It was different from the poster used for the theatrical release.
Instead of placing Seorin and Minjae at the front, it gave more space to the neighborhood facing redevelopment.
Geonwoo looked at the image for a while, then sent a short reply.
[I prefer this one.]
He checked the trailer too.
Scenes directly tied to the ending had been excluded.
That was something Geonwoo had specifically requested.
He also matched schedules with Taejun, Yura, and Dogyeom for one day of NetPlus promotional filming.
After the shoot, Taejun seemed more interested in how many languages the movie would be subtitled in than in his own interview.
“Hyung.”
“Our movie is really going to be watched in all these different countries?”
“I told you it is.”
“How many times are you going to ask?”
“No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t feel real.”
Yura said from beside him,
“I think he’s going to ask every day until release.”
Dogyeom laughed.
Geonwoo laughed with him.
In the meantime, Low Ceiling, which had been released first, had reached a peak on the global rankings before gradually dropping.
NetPlus Global Top 10 for Non-English Films.
Highest rank: 5th.
It had ranked even higher in several Asian countries.
It also entered the Film Top 10 in a few European countries.
Domestic articles continued to appear.
Among those articles, the name Kwon Taeoh saw most often wasn’t his own.
It was Seo Jiwan’s.
Low Ceiling Goes Global.
Top Star Seo Jiwan Proves His Power Again.
Articles with similar headlines continued.
Taeoh was reading an overseas-response report in his office when he swiped aside the phone screen.
A staff member sitting across from him said,
“Fifth place will probably remain the peak ranking.”
“Yeah.”
Taeoh turned a page.
Country-by-country reactions were also organized.
“It did well.”
“Yes.”
“It stayed in the rankings longer than expected.”
“A lot of the articles are about Jiwan hyung, right?”
“In overseas articles, they naturally mention Actor Seo Jiwan’s recognition quite a lot.”
“Figures.”
The staff member looked at Taeoh.
“Doesn’t that bother you?”
“What does?”
“It’s your movie, but the actor’s name appears more often.”
Taeoh looked at the report again.
“It’s true that Jiwan hyung helped the movie succeed.”
“And if the movie itself had been bad, his name alone wouldn’t have carried it this high.”
“That’s true.”
“How’s preparation for the next project?”
“Proceeding according to the schedule you gave us.”
June 11.
Geonwoo had been at TS ENM since the morning.
After finishing a meeting, he stayed in the room.
The schedule and actor preparation materials for The Night the King Died were spread across the table.
Geonwoo marked several places while reviewing what had been discussed.
Then the door opened.
Hyunsoo stuck his head inside.
“Hyung.”
Geonwoo looked up.
“What?”
Hyunsoo came in, smiling.
“Today, right?”
Geonwoo immediately knew what he meant.
“Yeah.”
“Six p.m., right?”
“Right.”
Hyunsoo pulled out the chair across from Geonwoo and sat briefly.
“Aren’t you nervous?”
“Of course I am.”
Hyunsoo immediately laughed.
“Oh.”
“You admitted it right away.”
“Want to watch together after work tonight?”
“To celebrate the NetPlus release.”
“Sorry, but I’m leaving early today.”
“I’m going to my parents’ house to watch it with my family.”
“Leaving early...”
“I’m jealous.”
Geonwoo chuckled.
“You work late on other days too.”
“That’s true.”
“If you’re that jealous, hurry up and debut as a director yourself.”
“I want to!”
“I’m already developing my graduation film.”
“Hyung, if I finish a script, can you look at it once?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll help with anything I can.”
Hyunsoo smiled.
“That’s reassuring.”
“A successful rookie director as my mentor.”
“Since when am I your mentor?”
Hyunsoo stared at him.
“That’s obvious too.”
“Hyung, you’re my dream!”
That night.
After dinner, Geonwoo gathered with his family in the living room of his parents’ house.
Sua held the remote and scrolled through NetPlus.
It only took a few moves before a familiar poster appeared.
Before the Light Reaches
Available Now.
Sua stopped.
“Oppa.”
“There it is.”
Geonwoo looked at the TV.
“Yeah.”
“That’s all?”
“Aren’t you amazed?”
“It was released at six, so of course it’s there now.”
“What kind of movie director is that much of a T?”
Their mother placed a fruit plate on the table and sat on the sofa.
“Turn it on.”
Their father leaned back too.
“That’s right.”
“We even ate dinner early so we could watch it.”
Sua pressed Play.
The screen darkened.
A moment later, the familiar opening scene began.
No one left their seat until the movie ended.
They had already watched it in theaters.
Even so, their mother shifted upright again during the scene where Seorin first began suspecting her younger brother’s death.
Their father barely spoke, as though watching it for the first time.
Sua’s phone vibrated once in the middle.
She checked it, then turned it face down.
The family stayed focused until the movie ended.
When it was over, Sua leaned back against the sofa.
“I already know everything that happens, but I still keep watching.”
Their mother nodded.
“Because the movie is good.”
“They say great movies are still fun even when you watch them again.”
Their father nodded and spoke.
“It is good even the second time.”
“Whoever made it did a very fine job.”
Just then, Geonwoo’s phone on the table vibrated repeatedly.
It was the Before the Light Reaches group chat.
As expected, Taejun was flooding it with messages first.
[Kang Taejun: Hyung!!!!]
[Kang Taejun: It’s seriously so weird seeing our movie on NetPlus lol]
[Kang Taejun: I’m watching it again right now.]
Yura replied.
[Han Yura: Movie just finished.]
[Han Yura: Still fun the second time.]
Dogyeom appeared too.
[Lee Dogyeom: I’m done filming!!]
[Lee Dogyeom: Heading home haha]
[Lee Dogyeom: I’m watching as soon as I get there.]
Taejun immediately replied.
[Kang Taejun: Dogyeom, it’s seriously fun even the second time. Hurry home and watch.]
Geonwoo left a message too.
[Baek Geonwoo: I just finished watching with my family.]
Taejun replied instantly.
[Kang Taejun: How did your family react?]
[Baek Geonwoo: They said it’s still good the second time.]
[Kang Taejun: As expected.]
Then another Taejun message appeared.
[Kang Taejun: Foreign reactions are already going up online.]
Several screenshots followed.
English.
Japanese.
Languages Geonwoo couldn’t recognize too.
There weren’t many yet.
But people outside Korea had already watched the film and were writing about it.
Yura replied.
