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Officer Black Belt is a South Korean action comedy film written and directed by Joo-hwan Kim. The Netflix film follows the story of Lee Jong-do, a skilled martial arts fighter as he is recruited by a probation officer to help closely manage the criminals wearing electronic ankle bracelets to stop them from hurting innocent people. Officer Black Belt stars Kim Woo-bin in the lead role with Kim Sung-kyun, Lee Hae Young, and Kim Yool-ho starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the thrilling action, hilarious comedy, and compelling characters in Officer Black Belt here are some similar movies to watch next.

Midnight Runners (Tubi & Prime Video Add-On) Credit – Lotte Entertainment

Midnight Runner is a South Korean action comedy film written and directed by Jason Kim. The 2017 film follows two new students at the Korean National Police University...

The Beast Cop, Ma Seok-do, punched his way onto the screen and into our hearts with 2017's “The Outlaws”. Since then, as the feature's popularity and the star of its leading man Man Dong-seok raised, the singular production became a franchise and Ma Seok-do has ended up becoming an iconic character for the actor, who now returns to our screens for his fourth case in “The Roundup: Punishment”.

“The Roundup: Punishment” is released by Capelight Pictures

It's 2018 and while investigating the death of an app developer in Philippines in connection to a drugs case, detective Ma Seok-do's and his team uncover a huge illegal online gambling organisation. The man behind the organisation is closer to home, the rich genius It CEO Chang Dong-chul, who plans on becoming even richer with the introduction of his new cryptocurrency. He needs, though, his partner, the ruthless knife-wielding killer Baek Chang-gi to keep a...

Gang Dong-won once again stars in an adaptation of an Asian film, this time Soi Cheang's 2009 work “Accident”, with Lee Yo-sup's second directorial work “The Plot”.

Synopsis

Young-il leads a contract killing group that includes Jackie, Wol-cheon and Jeom-man. His job in the group is that of the designer. He designs murders into perfect accidental deaths, but he gets involved in an unexpected incident and struggles to survive while suspecting everyone around him to find out who is behind the accident after barely surviving.

In addition to Gang Dong-won, who seems to be taking on Louis Koo's role from the original, “The Plot” also stars Lee Mu-saeng, Lee Mi-seok, Lee Hyun-wook, Tang Joon-sang and Lee Dong-hwi, among others. It will be releasing in South Korean theatres on May 29th, 2024.

Chief Detective 1958 is a Korean detective series created by Park Jae-beom. The Mbc TV K-drama serves as a prequel series to the 1971 Korean series Chief Inspector with the new series being set in the 1950s to 1960s, 10 years before the original series events take place. Chief Detective 1958 follows the story of Detective Park Yeong-han, an ace when it comes to catching petty criminals but he begins to feel frustrated with the corrupt system of the police and decides to do something about it.

Chief Detective 1958 has hit the ground running with a charming cast and an intense story that easily hooks the new audience while paying homage to the original series. The first few episodes of the K-drama set up a story that could take us to some wild places and tell us the journey of Park Yeong-han becoming the man he was in the original series.

“The Roundup: Punishment,” the fourth film in the Don Lee-starring crime action franchise, earned $20.9 million between Friday and Sunday and punched out all competition at the South Korean box office.

“Challengers,” which headed the box office this weekend in North America, with $15 million, opened fourth in Korea a 0.5% market share.

Global cinema data service, Comscore reported that “Punishment” was the top-scoring film worldwide with $24.4 million earned from collections in six territories. It was narrowly ahead of “Challengers” which earned $24.0 million from 53 markets.

“Punishment” accounted for a crushing 94% market share in Korea and collected its weekend haul from 2.92 million ticket sales, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

The film opened officially on Wednesday, when it scored $4.92 million, and followed that with a $3.25 million Thursday. Including the weekday takings and a smattering of previews from the previous weekend, the film finished Sunday with a cumulative of $29.3 million,...

Korean comedy action film “The Roundup: Punishment” destroyed all competition in local theaters on its Wednesday opening day.

The film earned $4.92 million from 821,000 ticket sales, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That represented a crushing 97% share of the day’s theatrical market.

Including a smattering of previews over the latest weekend, the film finished Wednesday with a cumulative of $5.26 million earned from 862,000 spectators.

Earlier, it was reported that the film had broken the Korean record for advanced ticket sales. On the eve of its arrival in cinemas, the film had notched up 830,000 pre-sales for Wednesday and other subsequent days. That comfortably exceeded previous record-holder “Along With the Gods: The Last 49 Days,” which pre-sold 646,000 tickets in 2018, and last year’s “The Roundup: No Way Out,” which pre-sold 640,000 before arriving in cinemas.

The film, which sees a tough-guy cop go after gangsters involved in drugs,...

Disney has confirmed that Korean webtoon-to-screen adaptation “Low Life” is poised to begin production.

When valuable treasure is discovered off the coast of Korea, the country’s biggest degenerates come crawling out of the woodwork in the hope of striking it big. Word spreads after a fisherman got lucky and kept a piece of the booty for himself. Among those tempted to brave the depths of the ocean are two members of a fractious and disunited crime family – notably an uncle who both looked after his nephew and led him astray.

The original story was a webtoon written by Yoon Tae-ho and first published by Kakao between 2014 and 2015. The literal translation of the Korean title is ‘country bumpkin.’ The story itself was inspired by a real-life event when a 14th century Chinese ship was found in 1975 off the coast of Shinan, South Korea.

The adaptation is penned by Kang Yoon-sung,...

"I promise I'll catch them all." Blue Fox Ent. & Capelight Pictures have revealed the official US trailer for an action movie from Korea titled The Roundup: Punishment, which is the fourth movie in The Roundup series. It first launched with The Outlaws in 2017, continuing with The Roundup (2022) and The Roundup: No Way Out (2023) and now this one is ready to rock. As Detective Ma Seok-do pursues a drug trafficking app's elusive developer, he uncovers a deadly link to a vast online gambling syndicate (in the world of cyber crime), triggering an unprecedented alliance to take down the masterminds. The Roundup: Punishment was directed by Heo Myeong-haeng, a stunt choreographer who also worked on Don Lee's breakout hit Train to Busan. The Roundup 4 stars Korea's favorite Don Lee returning as Ma Seok-do, plus Kim Moo-yul, Park Ji-hwan, and Lee Dong-hwi. This has also received some positive reviews like the other three,...

The shortest distance between two points is popularly believed to be a straight line. But if one of those points is the chin, cheekbone or torso of some sneering and/or psychotic Korean gangster, the shortest route is actually the arc described by either one of Korean megastar Don Lee’s fists, here playing the fists of Detective Ma, protagonist of the ludicrously watchable “Roundup” series.

“The Roundup” and “The Roundup: No Way Out” the first two sequels to 2017’s “The Outlaws,” seemed to inch a little closer each time to the platonic ideal of star-driven action-franchise purity. Now, with Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok) and his fists directed by Heo Myeong-haeng, a stunt choreographer who worked on Lee’s breakout “Train to Busan,” the fourth episode gets closer still. “The Roundup: Punishment” minimizes unnecessary originality, while gloriously maximizing the opportunities for Lee to crack wise, or look aggrieved and a little bored,...

South Korean action film The Roundup: Punishment has been sold to a string of key territories including the US by sales agent K-Movie Entertainment, ahead of its world premiere at the Berlinale.

Deals have been closed for North America and Germany (Capelight Pictures), the UK, Australia and New Zealand (Signal Pictures), Italy (Tucker Film), Japan (Happinet Phantom Studios), Hong Kong and Macau (Edko Films), Southeast Asia (Clover Films), Taiwan (Moviecloud), Vietnam (Lotte Vietnam), India (Indo Overseas Films), Mongolia (Filmbridge), Cis and Baltics (Mauris Film) and inflight (Kairos Distribution).

It marks the fourth in the blockbuster franchise starring Don Lee (aka...

Following what happened in the US during the last decade or so, the quality of Asian dramas has skyrocketed during the last few years, with a significant surge of talent from cinema towards streaming platforms, with Korea definitely paving the way in the regard, and Japan following. The result is quite impressive to watch, since, frequently, the level of these titles is equal to the one of movies.

Without further ado, here are 20 Asian dramas in random order proving the fact in the most eloquent fashion.

1. Cigarette Girl by Kamila Andini

“Cigarette Girl” is not a typical story of two broken hearts crushed by unfortunate circumstances, a trope over-used in the soap opera format. It also has a bit of history to offer alongside a basic insight into the women's hardships in Indonesia not such long time ago. “Your duty is to clean the house and find yourself a husband...

The Berlin Film Festival today unveiled further titles for the 2024 edition of its Berlinale Special Presentations sidebar section alongside its classics program. Scroll down for the full list of titles announced today.

Highlights from the latest drop of Specials titles include Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, a feature documentary about influential British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger narrated by Killers of the Flower Moon filmmaker Martin Scorsese. The feature is directed by David Hinton and features rare archival material from the personal collections of Powell, Pressburger, and Scorsese.

Love Lies Bleeding, the latest feature from British filmmaker Rose Glass will debut in the Specials program. The feature stars Kristen Stewart alongside Katy O’Brian. A short synopsis describes the pic as “a romance fueled by ego, desire, and the American Dream.” The film will arrive at Berlin following it’s debut at Sundance.

Abel Ferrara is...

On the heels of star-making roles in films like “Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard” and “Secret Reunion,” Gang Dong-won has been one of the most prominent star actors in South Korean cinema which is the case with his turn in the role of Dr. Cheon in director Kim Seong-sik’s latest effort. Based on Fresh and Kim Hong-tae’s popular webtoon “Possessed” and serving as the opening chapter for its franchise, WellGo USA releases the new genre effort in theaters October 6.

Arriving in a small village, Dr. Cheon (Gang Dong-won) and his technical assistant Inbae (Lee Dong-hwi) are approached by Yoo-kyung (Esom), a young woman asking him to use his fabled Shamanistic powers to help her family. While initially turned off by her serious nature, the monetary payment brings them together to check out the requested case looking at the supposed possession of her younger sister where they live inside their house.

What do you do if you’ve been raised in a long, esteemed tradition of shamanism but, having watched your beloved grandfather perish in the line of work, you don’t want anybody to know that? Become a fake shaman, of course. Many of the skills required are the same. You’ll need to be well versed in magical lore, observant about the environment surrounding you, and good at figuring out what’s going on inside other people’s heads. Dr. Cheon (Gang Dong-won) even has a psychology degree. He justifies his lucrative scams, carried out with the help of technician-come-comedy-sidekick In-bae (Lee Dong-hwi), by noting that he is setting people’s minds at ease and resolving tensions within families. But he and In-bae are about to encounter a client whose situation necessitates rather more drastic action.

A supernaturally themed thriller which also delivers a healthy supply of laughs, this...

Broker Review — Broker (2022) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Hirokazu Koreeda and starring Song Kang-ho, Dong-won Gang, Bae Doona, Ji-eun Lee, Lee Joo-young, Im Seung-soo, Park Hae-joon, Ryu Kyung-Soo, Dong-hwi Lee, Lee Moo-saeng, Ji-yong Park, Sae-byeok Song and Kim Sun-young. Broker, directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, asks a lot of hard questions [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Broker (2022): Hirokazu Koreeda’s Moving Film Skillfully Shows Audiences the Complexities of its Intriguing Premise...