Highly Anticipated Crime-Action Film Signals Strong Start with Overwhelming Ticket Sales

Courtesy of ABO Entertainment

On its opening day, Wednesday, "The Roundup: Punishment," the latest installment in the crime-action franchise, set a new ticket reservation record for Korean films, according to its distributor.

Starring Ma Dong-seok, the film amassed over 830,000 presold tickets nationwide, representing 95.5 percent of all box-office ticket reservations as of 8 a.m., as reported by ABO Entertainment, citing figures from the Korean Film Council.

The record-breaking figure surpassed the franchise's previous reservation record set by its predecessor, "The Roundup: No Way Out" (2023), and also exceeded the all-time record for Korean films previously held by "Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days" (2018).
 

▲ The Roundup: Punishment / Courtesy of ABO Entertainment"Punishment" centers around rugged cop Ma Seok-do (played by Ma Dong-seok) as he tracks down a ruthless global drug kingpin, Baek Chang-ki (Kim Moo-yeol), and a cryptocurrency entrepreneur, Chang Dong-cheol (Lee Dong-hwi), involved in illegal online casinos for money laundering.

With the immense success of the franchise's previous installments, expectations for "Punishment" are high. "The Outlaws," the first installment, attracted 6.88 million viewers in 2017, while subsequent films each drew more than 10 million moviegoers in 2022 and 2023.

The break-even point for "Punishment" is estimated at approximately 3.5 million admissions, with industry insiders predicting the potential for the film to surpass the 10 million mark given its current momentum.

In addition to starring in the lead role, Ma Dong-seok also served as a planner, screenwriter, and producer for the film project. Directed by Heo Myeong-haeng, who previously worked as a martial arts choreographer on the franchise's first three installments, "Punishment" is poised for continued success in the Korean film industry.

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