'The Roundup: Punishment' scripts history; hits record-breaking 11M audience mark
The Roundup: Punishment, the fourth installment in the popular The Outlaws series, has broken yet another box office record! On Sunday, the Korean Film Council announced that it reached 11M moviegoers in less than 33 days since its release on April 24, making it the fastest Korean film of 2024 to surpass this milestone. This success overtakes Exhuma, which took 40 days to reach the same number of viewers.
'Punishment' dominated Korean box office for four weeks
The action crime drama has not only surpassed its prequel The Roundup: No Way Out (2023) but also dominated the South Korean box office for four consecutive weekends. According to data from Kobis (a tracking service operated by KOFIC), the film earned $3.05M between Friday and Sunday, bringing its cumulative total to an impressive $78M in worldwide collection. Despite a week-on-week performance decrease of 46%, Punishment still enjoyed a 36% share of the Korean theatrical market.
New releases struggle against 'Punishment'
Despite the release of new films, Punishment continues to reign supreme at the box office. The Korean mystery thriller Following was the top-performing new release, earning $1.72M between Friday and Sunday (last week) and $2.76M over its full five-day opening run. Meanwhile, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes earned $1.17M in its second weekend, and the Japanese animation Haikyu! The Dumpster Battle opened with $1.12M for the last weekend proper.
Every record the film has broken so far
Since its premiere, the movie has exceeded 10M admissions in just 22 days, making it the fastest Korean film to achieve this milestone in 2024. As of May 23, it ranks as the second highest-grossing Korean film of the year. Additionally, it holds the ninth position on the list of highest-grossing domestic films and the 22nd position based on admissions, as reported by the Korean Film Council.
Meanwhile, here's everything to know about the film series
Directed by Heo Myung-haeng, this action-packed crime drama stars Ma Dong-seok, Kim Mu-yeol, Park Ji-hwan, and Lee Dong-hwi. Centered around Detective Ma Seok-do (Ma), each installment follows his relentless pursuit of dangerous criminals. The franchise commenced with The Outlaws in 2017, helmed by Kang Yoon-sung and featuring Yoon Kye-sang as the antagonist. The series continued with The Roundup in 2022, directed by Lee Sang-yong. The latest installment, No Way Out, directed by Lee Sang-yong, hit theaters on May 31, 2023.
