This photo, provided by the Berlin International Film Festival, shows the film “The Roundup: Punishment” or “Beom-Joe-do-si 4.” (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 13 (Korea Bizwire) — The Korean crime-action film “The Roundup: Punishment” is edging closer to achieving the 10 million admission milestone as the movie continues to reign on the local box-office chart, data showed Monday.
According to data from the Korean Film Council, the fourth installment of the “The Roundup” crime-action film franchise, starring Ma Dong-seok, has garnered 9.73 million admissions to date since its release on April 24. It attracted 777,324 viewers from Friday to Sunday.
Compared with its opening weekend, during which it drew nearly 3 million viewers, the momentum of attracting viewers appeared to have slightly weakened.
“The Roundup: Punishment” revolves around tenacious cop Ma Seok-do (played by Ma) 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), who employs illegal online casinos for money laundering.
Ma, also known as Don Lee, assumed multiple roles as a planner, screenwriter and producer for the film project. The film was directed by Heo Myeong-haeng, who previously served as a martial arts choreographer on the first three installments.
In addition to the general popularity of the franchise, the movie’s overwhelming screening occupancy rate, which reached 82 percent immediately after its release, is considered one of the key reasons behind its box-office success.
However, some critics have pointed out that the trend of one movie dominating the majority of screening slots may have negative implications for the overall health and growth of the country’s movie industry.
Meanwhile, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” secured the second spot on the weekend box-office chart with 325,000 admissions, while “Kung Fu Panda 4″ followed in third place with 43,000 admissions.
(Yonhap)
