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The Roundup (Korean: 범죄도시; RR: Beomjoedosi; lit. Crime City) is a South Korean crime action film series, starring Ma Dong-seok in the lead role. Each film follows true crime stories of Detective Lieutenant Ma Seok-do [ko] (played by Ma Dong-seok) hunting down vicious criminals, the character is based on real-life police detective Lieutenant Yoon Seok-ho.

The first film The Outlaws, directed by Kang Yoon-sung, starring Yoon Kye-sang as the antagonist was released in 2017. The second film titled The Roundup, directed by Lee Sang-yong and Son Suk-ku playing the antagonist, was released in 2022. The third film titled The Roundup: No Way Out, directed by Lee Sang-yong, was released on May 31, 2023. The fourth film The Roundup: Punishment had its world premiere at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival on February 23, 2024.

Overview

Films

The Outlaws (2017)

Detective Ma Seok-do and his team tries to catch a notorious crime lord named Jang Chen, from Harbin, China who is willing to commit crimes for money and comes to Garibong-dong to collect debts.

With 6.87 million admissions and a gross of US$51.8 million, the film became the 5th highest-grossing domestic film of the year in South Korea and the third best-selling R-rated Korean film of all time.

The Roundup (2022)

Ma Seok-do and his team arrive at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to interrogate a suspect, but later learn about Kang Hae-sang, a vicious killer, who has been committing crimes against Korean tourists for several years and decide to hunt him down.

The Roundup is directed by Lee Sang-yong who served as an assistant director in the first film. Unlike the previous film which was rated for "restricted screening" by KMRB, The Roundup was rated for "audiences 15 and over".

The film became commercially successful beyond expectations, grossing over ₩130 billion with a ₩10.5 billion budget, and was dubbed as the highest performing South Korean film since COVID-19 pandemic. It opened with a record of 467,525 admissions, the highest opening for a film released in South Korea in the last 882 days since Ashfall (2019). It registered 10 million viewers on 25th day, becoming the first film of the year 2022 and first Korean film since Parasite (2019) to achieve the feat. Surpassing US$100 million gross and 12.6 million admissions, The Roundup became 11th most-viewed and 3rd highest-grossing South Korean film in the history.

The Roundup: No Way Out (2023)

Ma Seok-do and his team are promoted to Metropolitan Investigation Unit where they battle against Riki, a yakuza and a dirty cop named Joo-seong cheol, who are involved in the manufacture and distribution of a newly-invented drug called "Hiper" which is becoming popular at the clubs around Seoul.

The Roundup: Punishment (2024)

Ma Seok-do joins the Cyber Investigation Team to catch Baek Chang-ghi, a former mercenary and the leader of the most notorious illegal online gambling organization.

The film was invited at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on February 23, 2024. It was released theatrically in South Korea on April 24, 2024, after its world premiere.

Future

In May 2022, at a press event for The Roundup, Ma Dong-seok introduced Crime City as a Korean franchise that will be produced as a series of eight films. In July, in an interview with Deadline, he revealed that apart from the eight films, two additional spinoffs have been suggested, hence Crime City, in a way, would be akin to Universal’s Fast & Furious franchise.

See also

• Radhe (2021 film), an Indian remake of The Outlaws

References

1. ^ Dalton, Ben (January 15, 2024). "Berlinale adds Korean action film 'The Roundup: Punishment', 'Love Lies Bleeding' with Kristen Stewart to Special strand". ScreenDaily. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
2. Jin Min-ji (September 21, 2017). "Ma Dong-seok fights crime in 'The Outlaws'". Korea Joongang Daily. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
3. Jin Min-ji (November 19, 2017). "'The Fortress' wins big at Film Critics Awards". Korea Joongang Daily. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
4. Kwak Yeon-soo (May 12, 2022). "'The Roundup,' sequel to 'The Outlaws,' boasts expanded cinematic universe". Korea Times. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
5. Jeong Hyung-hwa (June 13, 2022). "팬데믹 첫 천만 '범죄도시2' 2월에 개봉할 뻔..막전막후 뒷이야기" [Pandemic first 10 million 'Crime City 2' almost released in February... Behind the scenes]. Star News (in Korean). Retrieved July 27, 2022 – via Naver.
6. Kang Min-kyung (May 19, 2022). "[종합] 46만 '범죄도시2', '닥터 스트레인지2' 제쳤다…882일 만 韓 영화 신기록" [ 460,000 'Crime City 2', 'Doctor Strange 2' surpassed... New Korean movie record in 882 days]. Ten Asia (in Korean). Retrieved July 27, 2022 – via Naver.
7. Yang Yu-jin (June 11, 2022). "'범죄도시2' 천만 관객 돌파…팬데믹 이후 최초" [Crime City 2' surpasses 10 million viewers... For the first time since the pandemic]. My Daily (in Korean). Retrieved July 27, 2022 – via Naver.
8. "KOFIC, KOBIS (Korean Box Office Information System) Box office: The Roundup (2022)". KOFIC. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
9. Patrick Frater (July 25, 2014). "Don Lee's 'The Roundup' Gets Sequel 'No Way Out'". Variety. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
10. Shin Min-hee (November 11, 2022). "'The Roundup: Punishment,' fourth in 'The Outlaws' franchise, begins shooting". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved February 5, 2023 – via Naver.
11. Cheon Yun-hye (May 11, 2022). "[팝's현장]"내 모든 게 담겨 있어"..'범죄도시2' 마동석, 시즌8까지 바라보는 자부심" [ "I've got everything in me"..'Crime City 2' Ma Dong-seok, pride to watch until season 8]. Herald POP (in Korean). Retrieved July 28, 2022 – via Naver.
12. Nancy Tartaglione (July 8, 2022). "'Eternals' & 'The Roundup' Star Don Lee On Making Korean Stories For A Global Audience, With His Special Brand Of Action – Q&A". Deadline. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
13. Lee Soo-jin (July 11, 2022). "배우 마동석 "'범죄도시' 시리즈, 번외편도 계획…총 10편 될 수도"" [Actor Ma Dong-seok "The 'Crime City' series is also planned for an extra episode...it could be a total of 10 episodes"]. JTBC (in Korean). Retrieved July 27, 2022 – via Naver.

• Film series introduced in 2017
• South Korean film series
• South Korean crime action films
• South Korean gangster films
• South Korean police films
• Crime film series
• Action film series
• The Roundup (film series)
• B.A. Entertainment films
• South Korean films based on actual events