Ma Dong-seok, another jackpot with ‘Crime City 3’?

The 'Crime City' series, in which actor Ma Dong-seok appeared and participated in production and planning, returns. It's been a year since 'Crime City 2', which mobilized 12.69 million people last year. Will they be able to mobilize 10 million viewers this time with new villains Lee Jun-hyuk and Aoki Munetaka?

According to distributor Avio Entertainment, 'Crime City 3' has confirmed its release on the 31st, the last day of May. Today is ‘Culture Day’. ‘Culture Day’ is a program that provides various cultural benefits such as discounted or free admission and open night hours at more than 2,000 cultural facilities nationwide, including movie theaters, performance halls, museums, art galleries, cultural assets, and sports facilities, on the last Wednesday of every month and during the week. it means.

The ‘Crime City’ series began in 2017. Although 'Crime City' was rated as unsuitable for teenagers, it was a box office success, attracting 6.88 million viewers. Accordingly, a sequel, ‘Crime City 2’, was produced. 'Crime City 2' mobilized 12.69 million viewers due to revenge consumption and the cancellation of movie theaters.

Ma Dong-seok not only appeared, but also participated in planning and production. According to Ma Dong-seok, 'Crime City' was started with a franchise in mind from the time it was planned. He said, “Before the prequel scenario came out, I was thinking about an 8-part franchise. I had decided on the 8 stories I wanted to tell.” He added, “The story continues to transform into various forms, including different cases and different villains, focusing on Detective Maseok. The action plot centered on Maseokdo will continue to be maintained.”

Director Lee Sang-yong, who debuted in commercial films with 'Crime City 2', took on the role of directing 'Crime City 3'. Director Lee Sang-yong was auditioning actors to appear in 'Crime City 3' when 'Crime City 2' exceeded 10 million viewers. In fact, production on the third part had already begun even before the release of ‘Crime City 2’.

Director Lee Sang-yong said, "The background of Part 3 is the story of Detective Maseok-do moving to a metropolitan investigation unit. You can see Detective Maseok-do's activities as he investigates new people." He added, "Japanese Yakuza come to Korea and commit crimes. “Detective Do will show exciting and thrilling action while clearing this up,” he said.

'Crime City 3' is the story of monster detective Ma Seok-do (played by Ma Dong-seok) who moves to Gwangsu University in Seoul and catches Joo Seong-cheol (played by Lee Jun-hyuk), the mastermind behind a new drug crime case, and Ricky (played by Munetaka Aoki), another villain involved in the drug case. Contains

The signature of the ‘Crime City’ series is Ma Dong-seok, a detective. Ma Dong-seok will appear in part 3 following parts 1 and 2. He worked with Yoon Kye-sang, who played villain Jang Chen in the first part, and Son Seok-gu, who played Kang Hae-sang in the second part. In Part 3, Ma Dong-seok shows chemistry with new villain Lee Jun-hyuk and Japanese actor Aoki Munetaka. In Parts 1 and 2, one villain each appeared, but in Part 3, two villains appear.

There are even rumors that 'Crime City 3' is expected to be rated unsuitable for teenagers. According to the Korea Media Rating Board, the 26-second trailer for 'Crime City 3' was deemed unsuitable for minors on April 14. Then, on the 17th, the 26-second trailer was changed to full audience rating, and on the 25th, the 30-second trailer was also rated general audience. Currently, the rating for the main film has not been confirmed.

Previously, the first film was not rated for teenagers and ranked 3rd in box office success of all time, following 'Friends' and 'Insiders'. Of course, director Lee Sang-yong said that he also filmed 'Crime City 2' with the expectation that it would not be suitable for viewing by young people. As a result, it was rated 15 years old and the cumulative number of viewers was 12.69 million.

On April Culture Day, 'Dream', directed by Lee Byung-hun and starring Park Seo-joon and IU, was released. 'Dream' ranked first at the box office with 93,420 admissions on the first day of release. This is the record for a Korean film to surpass a foreign film in 50 days since ‘Confidential’, which was released on March 1.

In May, Disney's 'The Little Mermaid', Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3', and 'Fast and Furious: Ride or Die' will be released. 'Crime City 3' was confirmed to be released on the last day of May. Attention is being paid to whether 'Crime City 3' will once again set box office records in theaters where there are many foreign blockbusters.

Kang Min-kyung, Ten Asia reporter kkk39@tenasia.co.kr