In Berlin, with “The Roundup: Punishment,” the fourth installment in the action film series he created and starred in, older Korean American Don Lee finds himself simultaneously in several lucrative and timely gigs.
These include Marvel’s superhero works, remakes from Korea to Hollywood, and “The Roundup” franchise and its many possibilities. Perhaps Lee will work to save Korean cinema, which is currently experiencing one of its cyclical ups and downs.
“What we have to do is make movies that are really entertaining and fun. Put them in theaters, so everyone goes back to the theaters. One of my goals is to entertain more people,” he told me. diverse On the sidelines of the Berlin Film Festival, where the film “The Punishment” will be shown for the first time in the world outside of competition.
The sequel to the series, “The Roundup,” grossed $99 million in 2022, making it the highest-grossing Korean film that year, while last year’s “No Way Out” came close to repeating it and was the second highest-grossing film.
“Punishment” has many of the same elements: violent, unprincipled villains, sketchy Asian locations, and an unpolished cop character, Lee (Ma Seok-du, a play on the Korean name Ma Dong-seok Lee). Ma wears his white sneakers and rumpled leather jacket as matter-of-fact badges of honor and doesn’t hesitate to unleash his massive punching power in 10-minute intervals.
The humor of “Punishment” comes from repeatedly showing Ma to be elusive in the world of computer crime. But, with determination and a heart as big as his fists, Ma is able to rally his team, capturing the bandits and breaking a lot of heads along the way.
He told me: “I want the work to evolve (from film to film) and for the story to keep pace with the current era.” “It is important that the characters develop further, and become wiser with every sequel.”
Lee immigrated from Korea to the United States with his family in 1989, practiced boxing in school and learned about acting through church. While earning a living as a fitness trainer, Lee auditioned for and landed his first film role — in Korea — in 2002. Small roles followed until his big break in 2016 in “Train to Busan,” a stylish vampire thriller. Blood has become a huge success story. -Asian strike.
This film gave him the financial means to turn The Roundup into a full-fledged franchise, but Lee was already playing to his filmmaking strengths. He won the Baek Sang Arts Award for Best Newcomer in 2012 for the mystery thriller “Neighbours,” and says the film also marks his first production and adaptation roles — albeit uncredited.
There were other signs that Lee would not limit himself to solo activity. “Although his appearance in the 2014 hit crime action film ‘Veteran’ was just a cameo, Lee’s performance as a meticulous stationery store manager went a long way toward establishing him as a self-aware actor,” the Film Board says. The Korean (Kovik): “His image and he knows how to exploit it.” He was also developing The Roundup.
“About ten years ago, I met detectives and detectives in Korea and heard their stories and real cases. “I looked at about ten cases (for development) and chose eight of them to make a franchise,” he told me. The 2017 title was “The Outlaws,” which grossed 42 million Dollar at the box office, the first among The Roundup’s titles.
The franchise now keeps me busy. He arrived in Berlin for the premiere of the fourth installment, having just flown in from Japan to attend the commercial launch of the third installment – “No Way Out,” which last year grossed $78 million for Lee’s Big Punch and regular partners BA Entertainment and Hong Films. . “We are now simultaneously working on scripts for films five, six, seven and eight of The Roundup,” Lee says.
And such is the commercial power of intellectual property that Lee expects The Roundup to be a multi-faceted business empire. “In addition to the sequels, we are looking to turn it into a TV series or make a version for foreign markets. “I also dream of expanding the scope of police action films, making spin-off films, and maybe even shooting in Berlin,” he says.
With his company Gorilla 8 Productions in the US and his role as Gilgamesh in the 2021 Marvel film “Eternals”, Lee’s outside interests are also extensive.
“I still have a project left for Marvel. And also ‘The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil,’ which I’m going to recast with Sylvester Stallone. Then I’m gearing up for something called ‘Non Stop,’ which is an actual franchise where Asian martial arts actors come together (star of ‘The Raid’ ) Eko Uwais (“Ong Bak” star Tony Jaa) and Jet Li – together “in one movie,” Lee says.
If part of Lee’s popular appeal is the seemingly fine line between his tough but fair on-screen persona and his off-screen persona, the latter is amplified by Lee’s easy, frequent, and direct communication skills.
“One day, I saw a reply to one of my Instagram posts from someone who said he had nothing going on in his life and that nothing could make him happy, until he saw my Instagram and started laughing. “I thought maybe I should entertain more,” he says. “of people.”
Just two days ago, when he boarded the plane from Tokyo to Berlin, Lee sparked a social media frenzy by adding a Hello Kitty skin to his mobile phone. “It came from my wife. She gives me a lot of ideas,” he says.