The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure (Korean: RR: Haejeok: Dokkaebi Gitbal; lit. The Pirates: Goblin Flag) is a 2022 South Korean period adventure film directed by Kim Jeong-hoon and starring Han Hyo-joo and Kang Ha-neul.[3] A spiritual sequel of 2014 film The Pirates, the film is about adventures of pirates who gather in the sea and search for the royal treasures that have disappeared without a trace. It was released in IMAX format on January 26, 2022 coinciding with Korean New Year holiday.
On box office, it became the first Korean film to register 1 million viewers in 2022 on 11th day of its release. It is currently the third highest-grossing Korean film of 2022, with a gross of US$10.31 million and 1.32 million admissions.
In December 2018, the production of sequel to 2014 film The Pirates was announced. The film is directed by Kim Jeong-hoon, originally scheduled for the return of Kim Nam-gil and Son Ye-jin, and was expected to start filming in June 2019. In March 2019, Lee Kwang-soo joined the cast replacing Yoo Hae-jin, the member of original film cast. Due to various reasons and schedule conflicts of main leads, the filming was cancelled in May 2019. It took another ten months for producers to modify the script, cast the actors, and start the film with a new story.
In March 2020 it was reported that Kang Ha-neul was considering to appear in the film. Han Hyo-joo reunited with Kang Ha-Neul, as she confirmed her casting in the film, marking her return to cinema after two years since Illang: The Wolf Brigade. In April 2020, Chae Soo-bin joined the cast of the film. In June 2020 the cast line-up of the film was completed and filming was planned to start in July.