'Crime City 3' Ma Dong-seok's Nuclear Fist, Will It Save Korean Cinema?

'The Outlaws 3' Opens on the 31st... Booking Rate at 87.1%

Ma Dong-seok [Photo by Yonhap News]

Will actor Ma Dong-seok's powerful punch breathe new life into the stagnant film industry?

The movie "The Outlaws 3" (director Lee Sang-yong), starring and produced by Ma Dong-seok, was released on the 31st. The previous installment was released on May 18 last year and attracted 12.99 million viewers, setting the highest box office record for Korean films since the COVID-19 pandemic. The first film, released in 2017, also succeeded by drawing 6.88 million viewers. It has established itself as a successful Korean-style action series.

The third installment, hitting theaters after a year, is also drawing significant attention. Given that the previous film achieved an unprecedented box office success last year and revitalized the cinema atmosphere, there is an expectation that it will attract considerable interest.

The film depicts the story of detective Ma Seok-do (Ma Dong-seok) after his transfer to the Seoul Metropolitan Investigation Unit. He launches an operation to catch Joo Sung-chul (Lee Joon-hyuk), who is behind a new type of drug crime, and another villain involved in the drug case, Ricky (Aoki Munetaka).

In all three films, Ma Dong-seok plays the detective who anchors the story. Alongside Ma Dong-seok’s thrilling action scenes, the villains also draw significant attention. Following Yoon Kye-sang in the first film and Son Seok-gu in the second, Lee Joon-hyuk and Japanese actor Aoki Munetaka play villains in the third. With two antagonists facing off against Ma Dong-seok’s fists, anticipation for even more exhilarating action is rising.

Still from Crime City 3 [Photo by ABO Entertainment]

"The Outlaws 3" was already screened nationwide in a limited capacity before its official release during the Buddha’s Birthday holiday under the name of a premiere screening (paid preview), which is considered an irregular release. Through this, it attracted about 470,000 viewers and topped the box office during the holiday period.

Although the irregular release sparked controversy, the film that widened the gap through this strategy is expected to maintain its momentum through the first weekend of release on June 3-4 and the Memorial Day holiday on the 6th. During this period, the film will hold stage greetings in Seoul, the city of its release week.

According to the Korea Film Council’s integrated box office system, "The Outlaws 3" recorded a real-time reservation rate of 87.1% at 8:50 a.m. on the 31st, ranking first. The number of reserved tickets was 627,977, easily surpassing the second-place film "Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3" (2.0%).

Additionally, it comfortably outperformed competing films released at the same time, such as "Fast & Furious: Ride or Die" (1.4%) and "The Little Mermaid" (1.3%), garnering high expectations.

The weight on Ma Dong-seok’s shoulders is heavy. Attention is focused on whether the film released that day will revitalize the film industry, which has been stagnant since the COVID-19 pandemic.