A Journey from Gwangju to Hollywood
In 1989, a small art academy in Gwangju opened its doors at around 5 a.m. Among the early visitors was Jang Seong-ho, a high school student who had locked up the previous night. He couldn’t afford tuition, so he earned his place by cleaning and running errands. When he needed supplies, he took leftover drawing paper from the classroom and borrowed paint from friends. After his father passed away during his sophomore year of high school, Jang faced the reality of being the fourth of five siblings. He had to figure life out on his own.
This self-reliance became the driving force behind his life. The same determination that helped him through art school eventually led him to Hollywood and success. Now 55 years old, Jang is the director of King of Kings, a new animated film that has made box office history for Korean animation. In a recent interview, Jang shared, “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 tells the story of Jesus, initially went unnoticed before its North American release in April. However, everything changed after its opening weekend, when it debuted at No. 2 at the box office with $19 million in ticket sales. This surpassed the $14.5 million debut of The Prince of Egypt from 1998. To date, King of Kings has grossed $60 million in North America, beating out Parasite (2019), which earned $53 million in the region. This achievement stems from Jang’s belief—held even 10 years ago, when many dismissed the idea of entering Hollywood as a fantasy—that global success was objectively possible.
Jang’s confidence was rooted in years of experience. While studying visual design at Hongik University, he illustrated company newsletters for over 60 firms to fund his tuition and worked on post-production for films. His directorial debut came with The Gate of Destiny in 1996, followed by visual effects work on major Korean films such as 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 in 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 thought it was unrealistic—at the time, BTS and Bong Joon-ho were still 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 said. He 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 in 2018. Kim 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.”