'The Roundup' series makes Korean box office history by topping 40M viewers

"The Roundup" series has become the first Korean franchise to surpass 40 million theatergoers in Korea, as of Monday.

Actor Don Lee as cop Ma Seok-do in ″The Roundup: Punishment″ [ABO ENTERTAINMENT]

"The Roundup" series has become the first Korean franchise to surpass 40 million theatergoers in Korea, as of Monday.

"The Roundup: Punishment" holds the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office with a total of 9,824,728 aggregate admissions as of Monday, according to the Korea Box Office Information System (Kobis).

The total number of viewers for all four films in "The Roundup" series amounts to approximately 40.8 million viewers. This is the highest cumulative total for a Korean movie series ever.

If the latest installment reaches the 10-million-ticket mark, “The Roundup: Punishment” will be the third movie in the series to do so. The second installment, “The Roundup” (2022), sold 12,693,415 tickets, and the third installment, “The Roundup: No Way Out” (2023), sold 10,682,813.

A scene from ″The Roundup: Punishment″ [ABO ENTERTAINMENT]

“The Roundup” will also be the first Korean movie series to produce three box office hits that reach the 10-million-ticket mark.

“The Roundup” series has gained popularity for its good-cop-beats-all storyline and powerful action scenes featuring a lead character played by actor Don Lee, also known in Korea as Ma Dong-seok.

This fourth installment of the series is set in the Philippines, where Ma faces off with Baek Chang-ki, head of an illegal gambling organization, portrayed by actor Kim Moo-yul. Actor Park Ji-hwan reprises the role of the Korean Chinese ex-gangster Jang Yi-soo.

BY LEE JI-YOUNG, KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]