‘The Roundup: Punishment’ Makes $5 Million on Its First Day at the Korea Box Office
“The Roundup: Punishment” is a Korean comedy-action movie.
Data from Kobis, the tracking service run by the Korean Film Council (Kofic), shows that the movie brought in $4.92 million from 821,000 ticket sales. That was an astounding 97% market share for theaters that day.
After screening a few previews during the most recent weekend, the movie ended on Wednesday with 862,000 viewers earning a total of $5.26 million.
According to earlier reports, the movie shattered the Korean record for pre-sale ticket sales. Before the movie even opened in theaters, it had already sold 830,000 tickets for Wednesday and the days that followed. That easily surpassed the previous record-holders, “The Roundup: No Way Out” from last year, which pre-sold 640,000 tickets before movie opened in theaters, and “Along With the Gods: The Last 49 Days,” which pre-sold 646,000 tickets in 2018.
Directed by Heo Myeong-haeng, the film follows a tough-guy police officer as he pursues gangsters involved in drug trafficking, cryptocurrency trading, and online gambling. Kim Moo-yeol and Lee Dong-hwi also feature in the film. This movie is the fourth in a series that began with “The Outlaws” in 2017 and included “The Roundup” in 2022 and “The Roundup: No Way Out” in 2023.
Well-Liked on Variety
The franchise’s creator and the film’s star, Don Lee, also goes by the name Ma Dong-seok. As co-screenwriter, producer, and planner, he accepts credit.
“Punishment” made its international debut in February at the Berlin Film Festival. Lee told Variety that he plans for the film series to consist of eight installments and that it is based on actual police cases.
The new title’s review by Variety waxed poetic about the progression of the franchise and the purity of the most recent installment. “[It] reduces needless uniqueness while masterfully maximizing Lee’s ability to quip, appear resentful and a little bored, or appear to have just remembered he needs to do the laundry. All the while, his muscular forearms deliver a barrage of sledgehammer blows so fast their targets frequently literally do not know what hit them. This is cinema, for sure,” reviewer Jessica Kiang exclaimed.
