Korean film 'The Roundup: Punishment' smashes records on opening day
The latest installment of the popular Korean crime action franchise, The Roundup: Punishment, has set a new opening day presale record in its domestic (South Korea) market. The action-packed crime film, starring and executive produced by Ma Dong-seok (also known as Don Lee), had over 834K ticket bookings by Wednesday morning local time, reportedly. This figure represents an impressive 95.5% of all sales, according to local reports.
Why does this story matter?
Each installment in The Roundup series follows Detective Ma Seok-do (Ma) as he hunts down ruthless criminals. The series commenced with The Outlaws in 2017, directed by Kang Yoon-sung. Its sequel, The Roundup—directed by Lee Sang-yong with Son Suk-ku as the antagonist—debuted in 2022. Subsequently, The Roundup: No Way Out—helmed by Lee Sang-yong—hit theaters on May 31, 2023. The highly-anticipated fourth installment premiered on Wednesday, continuing the franchise's success story of Seok-do's relentless pursuit of justice.
'Punishment' surpasses franchise's previous best presale record
The Roundup: Punishment has surpassed the franchise's previous best presale record of 640K tickets for The Roundup: No Way Out. It also outdid the presales record set by Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days, a 2018 film featuring Ma, which had 646K in presales. The break-even point for Punishment is estimated to be around 3.5M admissions. These statistics were provided by ABO Entertainment and referenced data from the Korean Film Council.
Record-breaking feat: Film earned $341K on just 17 screens
The Roundup: Punishment has also outpaced the opening day presales of Hollywood films in Korea this year. The film was screened on Wednesday and earned $341K on just 17 screens, as reported by Kobiz. This strong performance is expected to boost the Korean box office, which recently experienced a record-breaking March largely due to the success of the horror film Exhuma, grossing $83.4M since its February 22 debut.
'Punishment' premiered at the Berlin Film Festival
Directed by Heo Myeong-haeng, Punishment made its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. The plot revolves around Detective Seok-do, who collaborates with the Cyber Investigation Team to track down a ruthless kingpin and a cryptocurrency entrepreneur using online casinos to launder his virtually worthless fortune. Heading the investigation is ex-special forces agent Baek Chang-gi (Kim Moo-yul), with mastermind Jang Dong-cheol (Lee Dong-hwi) behind the scenes. Lee Joo-bin costars as Han Ji-su.
