The Roundup: Punishment

Source: ABO Entertainment / Bigpunch Pictures / Hong Film & B.A. Entertainment

‘The Roundup: Punishment’

South Korean action film The Roundup: Punishment has been sold to a string of key territories including the US by sales agent K-Movie Entertainment, ahead of its world premiere at the Berlinale.

Deals have been closed for North America and Germany (Capelight Pictures), the UK, Australia and New Zealand (Signal Pictures), Italy (Tucker Film), Japan (Happinet Phantom Studios), Hong Kong and Macau (Edko Films), Southeast Asia (Clover Films), Taiwan (Moviecloud), Vietnam (Lotte Vietnam), India (Indo Overseas Films), Mongolia (Filmbridge), CIS and Baltics (Mauris Film) and inflight (Kairos Distribution).

It marks the fourth in the blockbuster franchise starring Don Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok) as the “Monster Cop”, which began with The Outlaws in 2017 before sequel The Roundup became the top grossing film at the Korean box office in 2022 and The Roundup: No Way Out ranked second in 2023.

In the latest instalment, Detective Ma Seok-do is tasked with taking down the head of an online gambling organisation, played by Kim Moo-yul. The cast also includes Park Ji-hwan and Lee Dong-hwi.

The Roundup: Punishment is directed by Heo Myeong-haeng, a well-known stunt co-ordinator whose work ranges from the hammer fight scene in Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy to features including Train to Busan, Extreme Job and Hunt.

Heo’s directorial debut was Badland Hunters, also starring Lee, which launched on Netflix last month and ranked as the most-watched non-English film on the platform on its week of release.

Preesnted by ABO Entertainment and produced by Hong Film, BigPunch Pictures and B.A. Entertainment, a local theatrical release date has not been set but is expected in the first half of 2024.