Don Lee returns for Korean action sequel

 South Korea's biggest blockbuster of 2022, The Roundup, is already getting the sequel treatment.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the third instalment of the series, The Roundup: No Way Out, which reunites Ma Dong-seok (also known as Don Lee) and director Lee Sang-yong, began production last week.

After joining the Regional Investigation Unit to take on a fresh crime plot, Lee's beefed-up detective Ma Seok-do continues his gritty action adventures in the new film. Lee Jun-hyuk, the villain of the upcoming movie, will be played by Korean leading man Lee Joon-hyuk (Along with the Gods), who joins the franchise. Japanese actor Aoki Munetaka will also appear as the yakuza figure Riki.

With the release of the 2017 film The Outlaws, which introduced Lee's tough-as-nails investigator Ma Suk-Do as he fought to retain control over Seoul's Chinatown neighbourhood amid brutal gang wars, the Roundup franchise was born. The movie, which made $53 million, was warmly welcomed by both critics and aficionados of the genre.

In the follow-up, The Roundup, directed by Lee Sang-yong, the action was set in Vietnam, where Don Lee's detective decamped in order to extradite a suspect but wound up becoming involved in the hunt for a serial abduction and murderer. With nearly $100 million in revenue since its May release, the movie has established a new high-water record for South Korea's post-pandemic theatrical box office (Top Gun: Maverick is in a distant second place in the nation's annual standings with $52 million).

Kim Min-jae (Peninsula, The Battleship Island) will portray Ma Seok-right-hand do's man in The Roundup: No Way Out, and Lee Beom-su (Operation Chromite, The Beauty Inside) will play Inspector Jang Tae-soo of the Regional Investigation Unit. The production also enlists actors Jun Suk-ho (Miss & Mrs. Cops, Kingdom) and Ko Kyu-phil (The Cursed: Dead Man's Prey, Crash Landing on You) to play Ma Seok-unusual do's companions.

Produced by Big Punch Pictures, Hong Film, and B.A. Entertainment, The Roundup: No Way Out is similar to its predecessor in that ABO Entertainment is in charge of distribution in Korea.

The movie's shooting will go on until November, and a target release date of 2023 has already been established.