the roundup no way out

THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT Review: Don Lee Is Thrice The Muscle And Bustle In Lee Sang-Yong’s Hard-Hitting Action Comedy

Lee Sang-yong’s The Roundup has a shorter runtime in comparison to Kang Yoon-sung’s 2017 predecessor, The Outlaws. I’m fascinated by this in terms of its characteristics for success, and the momentum handed to it in course of its fruition as a franchise nowadays with a total of four movies in its deck. The same goes for its third chapter, Lee’s The Roundup: No Way Out, which opened in Cannes and in South Korea last summer. Whatever the case is or may be, there’s no question that Lee capitalizes on just about everything that worked in the 2022 sequel. That film’s writer Kim Min-sung, as well as its Cha Woo-jin, paired up to pen The Roundup: No Way Out, for a story that beefs things up plenty in the action department without losing a beat in the energy that keeps it going. Par for the course is frontman Don Lee, centerstage […]

Trailer: THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT Rounds Up A June 2 U.S. Release!

Lee B. Golden III

Capelight Pictures is proudly releasing Lee Sang-yong’s hotly anticipated threequel, The Roundup: No Way Out, on June 2 in North American theaters. The film returns actor Don Lee back in the spotlight for another round as the no-frills and no BS detective Ma, following 2017’s The Outlaws in which he tracks down a notorious mobster in South Korea’s Chinatown district, and in last year’s The Roundup in which he hunts down a vicious killer. Cue the obligatory “…but wait, there’s more!”: The beast cop Ma Seok-do returns — This time, to the Metro Investigations! Seven years after the roundup in Vietnam, Ma Seok-do (Don LEE) joins a new squad to investigate a murder case. Soon, he finds out this case involves busting a synthetic drug and starts to dig deeper… Meanwhile, the guy behind it all—Joo Sung-chul (LEE Jun-hyuk)—doesn’t stop looking for trouble, and the Japanese drug distributors, Ricky (Aoki […]

THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT International Official Trailer Launches

Lee B. Golden III

ABO is going hard this month as the release date approaches for Lee Sang-yong’s Don Lee threequel, The Roundup: No Way Out. The film comes out in South Korea late May with other territories pending from this summer, including ours, and I reckon it’ll be just in time for some of this year’s festivals to add it to their slates, hopefully. What I love most is that Jun Kunimura gets a few visuals here along with the film’s Korean and Japanese cast which really antes things up some since the franchise took off in 2017. This time, our main star is part of a regional investigation unit tackling a new enemy in actor Lee Jun-Hyuk, and the Yakuza are involved as well. Hence Kunimura and sword-wielding Munetaka Aoki. The trailer below also arrived hours earlier with Korean subtitles with ABO debuting in English as of Wednesday. Check it out!

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

Lee B. Golden III

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 […]

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 […]