don lee

THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT Rounds Up Some Major Poster Art!

I’ve been awake for a few hours before I’m actually supposed to be up and about my day, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to share some of the latest enticing poster art for director Lee Sang-yong’s The Roundup: No Way Out. There’s a main poster in both Hangul and English, as well as a trio of character posters making the rounds for the film’s May 31 release. Detective Ma (Don LEE) is back again, now as a part of the regional investigation unit. With a new team, he has to catch a new villain (LEE Jun-hyuk). On the other hand, Riki (Aoki MUNETAKA), the Japanese gangster adds suspense by joining this fierce battle. Just after “The Roundup” became the biggest blockbuster of 2022 in Korea earning over $100 million, the director LEE Sang-yong and Don LEE team up again to keep up the momentum. The official launch trailer […]

Punch Into The Week With The First Teaser For THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT!

Lee B. Golden III

The Roundup franchise is making its way back to relevancy with the first teaser for The Roundup: No Way Out. This one marks the third chapter in the upbeat crime thriller saga led by actor Don Lee who continues to grow his career both at home and abroad, as he’s been hinting of late through his social media posts following his most recent stint with Marvel. The action star is also producing once again, and is joined by none other than director Lee Sang-yong whose work on last year’s sequel, The Roundup, was a hit at home and at the festivals. Actor Munetaka Aoki of Rurouni Kenshin franchise fame joins the fray as well, as Lee Joon-hyuk and Lee Beom-soo, in addition to a special appearance by veteran actor Jun Kunimura. Detective Ma Seok-do joins the Metropolitan Investigation Team, to eradicate Joo Seong-cheol and other Japanese gangsters from committing heinous […]

Streaming Sleepers: Watch THE OUTLAWS And THE ROUNDUP Right Now On Tubi

Lee B. Golden III

Consider this your seasonal reminder that one of the baddest-ass actors of the last several years is on deck to return as a leading character favorite in the Beast Cop saga in The Roundup: No Way Out. We already have a few first looks at the star in the new film from director Lee Sang-yong and starring Don Lee, though hopefully a trailer won’t be too far off from now to stir things up. Until then, if you’re new to the phenomenon and you’re wherever folks can get Tubi, then you’re just in luck. The first film, The Outlaws, has been on the free ad-supported platform for quite a long while now, and the sequel, The Roundup, only recently just arrived for fans to watch and enjoy. Kang Yoon-sung directed both titles with the sequel getting a limited theatrical U.S. release through Capelight last year following its festival run. Actor […]

Don Lee Action Threequel THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT Punches In With Production Already Underway

Lee B. Golden III

Production is underway for The Roundup: No Way Out, according to THR‘s Patrick Brzeski who says cameras began rolling last week. The news comes following reports back in May citing casting news now confirmed in this week’s coverage with Don Lee heading up the cast once more. According to the report, The Roundup: No Way Out “continues the gritty action adventures of Lee’s beefed-up detective Ma Seok-do after he has joined the Regional Investigation Unit to face a new crime conspiracy.” Lee Sang-yong, who succeeded The Outlaws helmer to direct its most recent sequel to box office fruition, is directing the third film which is currently poised for several more sequels going forward. Also starring are Lee Joon-hyuk (Along with the Gods) who joins the franchise to play the new film’s villain, as well as Munetaka Aoki (Rurouni Kenshin franchise) who will co-star as a Yakuza named Riki, Lee Beom-su (The Divine […]

Fantasia XXVI Review: Lee Sang-Yong’s THE ROUNDUP Knocks ‘Em Out Once More In The Hit Action Crime Sequel

Lee B. Golden III

Watch any of actor Don Lee’s earlier films and you’ll know he wasn’t as sizeable as he has been in the last, say, maybe eight or ten years. Regardless of whether his beefy build was a planned effort or not, however, you have to give it to him for using it to his advantage and ultimately paving a way for an evolution in Korean cinema of late with a raft of hard-hitting roles as a big, hard-hitting character with enough screen charisma to match the likes of Schwarzenegger and current business partner Stallone to name a certain few, which now brings us to Lee Sang-yong’s The Outlaws follow-up, The Roundup. Enter Ma, the “Beast Cop” himself played once more by actor Don Lee in a story now set in 2008 where he and his unit’s captain, Jeon Il-man, are sent to extradite a criminal operating in Vietnam. The case eventually […]

THE GANGSTER, THE COP, THE DEVIL: Don Lee, Sylvester Stallone To Raise Crimefighting Hell At Paramount Pictures

Lee B. Golden III

Following reports back in May of 2019, Deadline‘s Nancy Tartaglione is reaffirming the news on the pending Don Lee and Sylvester Stallone collab, a remake of Lee Won-tae’s hit 2019 action crime thriller, The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil. The original film was released in South Korea by Kiwi Media Group and shortly after by Well Go USA in the states following its Fantasia Festival premiere (read our review). Joined by Kim Moo-yul and Kim Sung-kyu, Lee starred as a gangster who, after becoming the sole survivor among a raft of murdered crimebosses, reluctantly pairs up with a dogmatic cop who despises gangsters, to take the serial killer down. The new film is now in early stages of development at Paramount Pictures. Lee is set to produce the new film via Gorilla 8 Productions, next to B&C Content CEO Chris S. Lee, BA Entertainment CEO Billy Acumen who also produced […]

Don Lee Set To Reprise His Role In Third Outing For THE OUTLAWS Cop Thriller Franchise, Fourth And More Also In The Works

Lee B. Golden III

Multiple Korean news outlets are reporting that a third follow-up to Kang Yoon-sung’s 2017 cop thriller vehicle, The Outlaws, is well on the way with a forth installment already in development. Lee Sang-yong, who directed the second film, The Roundup, will rejoin his star to helm the pic which is currently slated for a 2023 release. Partial casting details reported by Maeil Business Newspaper’s Han Hyun-jung further include Lee Jun-hyuk (Baseball Girl, Along With The Gods 1 & 2), Munetaka Aoki (Rurouni Kenshin franchise), Lee Beom-su (The Divine Move, Unfinished), and Kim Min-jae (Unstoppable, The Battleship Island). The report also hints that successes on the second, the pending third and fourth films could also lead to possible developments for four more titles in the line-up, totaling eight films altogether. Lee, who also stars in films like The Unjust, Kundo, Train To Busan and Derailed to name a few, headlined writer/director […]

Don Lee Starrer THE ROUNDUP Takes To IMAX In New Poster Art

Lee B. Golden III

I credit Yoon Jong-bin’s 2014 period adventure, Kundo, for my own discovery of actor Ma Dong-seok. It’s been terrific seeing some of his regional work, and being around for his career growth of late from relatively known Korean movie star to a burgeoning international hitmaker now starring in Marvel movies and circling Stallone projects. Who knows how long it’ll be before Ma gets there though? Of course, his progression has only made it easier having coined the stage name, Don Lee for Western adaptability, and with that, his posterity remains with prospective films like the impending The Outlaws sequel, Lee Sang-yong’s The Roundup, which is due out in South Korea from the 18th, and in Hong Kong SAR as of the 26th. Indeed there are more territories to come for the film’s release while we have a brand new IMAX poster to celebrate the occasion which you can view below. […]

THE ROUNDUP Cast And Director Gather For A New Trailer + Global Launch Event

Lee B. Golden III

Director Kang Yoon-sung’s newest crime thriller, The Roundup, now gets a new minute-long trailer suited for international audiences. The footage comes tied to a global launch event that kicked off on Monday hosted by ABO Entertainment with a cast/director Q&A panel. Don Lee reunites with Kang following the film’s 2017 predecessor, The Outlaws, with Lee reprising his role as a tough-as-nails detective who tracks down a killer overseas while extraditing another criminal. Also starring are Son Seok-gu (Hit-and-Run Squad), and fellow The Outlaws cohorts Choi Gwi-hwa and Park Ji-hwan. The Roundup kicks ass in South Korean cinemas beginning May 18 from Kiwi Media Group. Watch an isolated cut of the trailer by clicking here.

New Trailer For THE ROUNDUP Sees Don Lee Crossing Borders To Bring The Pain!

Lee B. Golden III

Six months does feel like an eternity with the wait it’s taken since the first few teasers arose for Don Lee crime thriller sequel, The Roundup. Alas, the film is back to stir the pot once more as we speak with a few posters taking up space on the web, and a new promotional trailer to boot. The ‘Beast Cop’ Ma Seok-do (Don Lee) heads to a foreign country to extradite a suspect, but soon after his arrival, he discovers additional murder cases and hears about a vicious killer who has been committing crimes against tourists for several years. To catch an unprecedented criminal, Detective Ma and his team must go the extra mile! Admittedly, some of the news coming out lately has been a damper, so it helps that with director Kang Yoon-sung helming an action vehicle ripe with Lee punching people and delivering action-packed justice definitely brightens things […]

THE ROUNDUP: Don Lee Cleans House In The First Two Teasers For ‘The Outlaws’ Sequel

Lee B. Golden III

Fact is that even international film star Don Lee himself has alluded toward comedy roles as his preferred mode. There’s an interview out there from a few years back where he talks about this, and you can surely imagine the notion of just seeing him on screen and endulging in the overall charisma he brings to audiences in his performances. Safe to say, however, it’s all copasetic when it comes to watching him in action playing sincere and brooding tough guy roles, and he always brings a certain vitality to his performances which makes him one of the most watchable action stars anyone’s ever kept up with. That’s why he’s got a swelling fanbase, as well as an impending Marvel universe induction, and a potential Stallone collaboration… …Alas, it’s also why he’s got a sequel comimg soon since we learned earlier this year that he would be making his return […]

MARVEL’S THE ETERNALS Teaser Trailer Newly Introduces Heroes Out Of Hiding

Lee B. Golden III

While Disney+ subscribers continue to get their fill with a lean-and-mean line-up of hit streaming programs, those viewers can still fully expect to see their butts in movie theater seats soon, just in time to bear witness to the post-Avengers fourth and next debut phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Beginning this November with Marvel’s The Eternals, director Chloe Zhao marks her fourth feature film to date after notching up some career buzz since her Camera d’Or-nominated 2015 drama, Songs My Brothers Taught Me. Her most recent feature, Nomadland starring Frances McDormand, scored several wins last year, including TIFF’s Peoples’ Choice Award, and the Leonard Maltin Tribute Award. Marvel Studios’ Eternals features an exciting new team of Super Heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years. Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, an unexpected tragedy forces them out […]

THE ROUNDUP: Don Lee Action Crime Sequel To ‘The Outlaws’ Now Filming

Lee B. Golden III

Production is currently underway for The Roundup, a sequel to Kang Yoon-sung’s 2017 action hit, The Outlaws. Lee Sang-young is making his debut at the helm for a returning cast that currently sees Don Lee (The Gangster. The Cop. The Devil., Unstoppable, Along With The Gods 2: The Last 49 Days, upcoming The Eternals), and the new addition of actor Son Suk-ku (Hit-And-Run Squad), with filming expected to wrap this summer. The first film saw Lee at the wheel as Ma Suk-do, a.k.a. “the Beast Cop”, heading a small anti-crime task force and dispensing justice amid warring gangs and the rise of a vicious crime boss in a South Korean Chinatown district in 2004. The Roundup sees Ma, front and center once more on a mission to Southeast Asia to extradite a suspect where a ruthless killer who has been targeting tourists for years emerges. “Buyers have been telling us […]

ASHFALL: Korea Battles Fire Down Below In The Official Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

With five directing credits between them, Lee Hae-jun and Kim Byeong-seo had their work cut out for them with their latest disaster epic, Ashfall – internationally titled for market appeal and for western audiences, particuarly in the U.S. where CJ Entertainment will eventually signal its own release stateside. The two round up a cast headed by Lee Byung-hun, Ha Jung-woo, Don Lee and Bae Suzy for the story of a seismologist who teams up with a rogue North Korean officer to help prevent a disaster following the sudden eruption of Baekdu Mountain, endangering the Korean peninsula. The film is due in December.

THE GANGSTER, THE COP, THE DEVIL: Win A Copy Of Lee Won-Tae’s New ‘Catch ‘Em If You Can’ Crime Thriller Starring Don Lee

Lee B. Golden III

By far one of the biggest feats of Korean cinema of late is watching actor Don Lee command the screen. His latest entry with director Lee Won-Tae in The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil is now readying a North American Blu-Ray release next week and we’re aiming to give away three copies to fans who can answer the following trivia: Don Lee shares space with fellow The Cop, The Gangster, The Devil lead actor Kim Moo-Yul in an OCN TV franchise now returning to the big screen with a similar title. Name that TV franchise. Just send us your answer to filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com along with subject header, GCD Contest, or it will be disqualified. Winners will be announced on October 4, whereby contest winners will then have twenty-four (24) hours to claim their prizes, or they will be forefeit to the next winner. Contest extends only to North American entries. Good luck!

THE BAD GUYS: REIGN OF CHAOS Reigns In Select U.S. Theaters September 11

Lee B. Golden III

CJ Entertainment is proudly signaling moviegoers with a release date for September 11 for Son Yong-Ho’s feature crime thriller, The Bad Guys: Reign Of Chaos. The film takes its cues from the 2014 and 2016 OCN drama series with the return of actors Kim Sang-Joong and Marvel Phase Four addition Don Lee to their respective roles from the first series. While transporting dangerous high-profile prisoners, a prisoner transport vehicle turns over. These prisoners escape and make a run for it. To catch these escaped prisoners, the police decide to regroup a special crime investigation team, which consists of prisoners like Park Woong-Cheol (DON LEE) known to take out 30 people by himself; Kwak No-Soon (KIM A-JOONG) who is a skilled con artist; Ko Yoo-Sung (JANG KI-YONG) a former detective, and the legendary detective Oh Goo-Tak (KIM SANG-JOONG). I’d known of the original OCN drama and wasn’t keen on it right […]

THE GANGSTER, THE COP, THE DEVIL: A Day Of Reckoning Arrives Home October 1 For The South Korean Crime Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

Actor Don Lee’s name and career transition has been a more-than-admirable one if you’re familiar with his body of work. That he’s now affiliated with the likes of Sylvester Stallone and the comic book movie hit machine at Marvel is inherently worth taking note of as we now look to his latest, The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil. Lee headlines the hard-hitting new crime thriller about a gangster whose narrow survival of a serial killer’s blade finds him reluctantly paired with a rancorous detective in order to catch him before he strikes again. Actor Kim Moo-Yul (War Of The Arrows) plays the resentful detective while Kim Sung-Kyu (Tunnel) encroaches on Korea as the titular ‘Devil’. The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil arose this summer as a last minute addition to the 23rd Fantasia International Film Festival upon its theatrical stateside release in the U.S.. The film is easily one of […]

THE BAD GUYS: REIGN OF CHAOS Scores A New Official Trailer With Its Fitting Title

Lee B. Golden III

Son Yong-Ho’s second feature release since The Deal is making head way next month with The Bad Guys: Reign Of Chaos. That’s the new international title for the film outside South Korea where CJ Entertainment retains its dominion for a September 11 theatrical release as its North American branch plots a date to be later announced. The Bad Guys: Reign Of Chaos is a spin-off of the popular OCN crime procedural from 2014 and 2016. Actors Don Lee and Kim Sang-Joong rejoin the franchise five years since the series for the story of a ragtag team of badasses assembled to deliver their brand of unorthodox justice when a prison transport escape leads to the emergence of a new powerful crime figure. Also starring are Kim A-Joong and Chang Ki-Yong. Peep the trailer above as well as international key art, character one sheets and official stills below!

BAD GUYS: THE MOVIE: Don’t Miss The First Teaser For The Big Screen Adaptation Of The Hit OCN Drama

Lee B. Golden III

It hasn’t been too long since Chloé Zhao’s upcoming Phase IV entry with Marvel’s The Eternals added to any and all filmgoing fervor between now and November 2020. It’s especially given South Korean cinema powerhouse, actor Don Lee, a greater international spotlight which no less looks to cash in with local audiences now looking toward his big screen return in September. Enter Bad Guys: The Movie, Lee’s latest South Korean feat based on the original OCN television drama from which the film follows through on; That series tells of a world-weary, albeit vengeful detective whose off-the-books grouping of criminals specially chosen to help foil crimes and catch larger-than-life criminals stands only as part of a greater scheme of things. A second series spun-off a few years later with an entirely new cast. The Deal helmer Son Yong-ho directs from a script by Han Jung-Joon who also wrote the 2014 series, […]

UNSTOPPABLE Lands Home On VoD And Digital HD June 25 From Well Go USA!

Lee B. Golden III

Folks planning on buying a DVD or Blu-Ray copy of Furie from Well Go USA will be in good company when the Plano, Texas-based firm unleashes one of last year’s finest, Kim Min-Ho’s Unstoppable. A VOD and Digital HD release is in store on June 25, and stars Korean powerhouse Don Lee (a.k.a. Ma Dong-Seok) as a former gangster forced out of retirement once he learns of his wife’s kidnapping. The film stands prominently as one of a multitude of Korean theatrical and disc titles featuring Lee who can be seen in Kundo, zombie actioner Train To Bussn and Champion to name a few. The actor is present nowadays in director Lee Won-Tae’s most recent hard-hitting thrillride, The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil, for which a remake is also in tow from producer Sylvester Stallone and with Lee reprising. Check out my review of Unstoppable, and then snag yourself a […]