Ma Seok Do’s movie had a hard time filming in Vietnam

Movie The Roundup (Directed by Lee Sang Yong) has sold 3.55 million tickets in just the first week in Korean cinemas, from May 18. This is an impressive number for a Korean film during the recovery period after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Director Lee Sang Yong’s debut film is the sequel to the hit crime drama The Outlaws (2017), revolves around police officer Ma Seok Do (Don Lee), who comes to Vietnam to extradite a suspect. But soon after arriving, he uncovers murder cases and discovers the evil killer has been committing crimes against Korean tourists for several years straight.

Share with sheet The Korean Herald, Director Lee Sang Yong said, filming a movie in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic is an experience that he will not be able to forget until the day he passes away.

“We visited Vietnam for the first time in September 2019. The crew was looking for a location to shoot the movie and also finished casting Vietnamese actors. At that time, the whole crew planned to shoot at the end of the month. February 2020.

A week before, the crew members started to come to Vietnam, including actor So Suk Ku was also present. But we soon received word from the consulate that we would have to return to Korea immediately or we would all be quarantined.

We spent about 1 billion won ($834,960) at that time. So I think we won’t be able to finish filming the movie. Many films at that time were also not possible,” said director Lee Sang Yong.

After a long discussion, the crew decided to shoot the scenes in Korea first, and then shoot the scenes in Vietnam. But this plan had to be adjusted because the pandemic situation did not improve.

“We filmed the streets of Vietnam and returned to Korea. The actors had to act with a green screen and limited camera angles. I was forced to work like that even though I didn’t like it at all.

The crew also had to change locations in Korea because they couldn’t get a filming permit. We had to change the script and dialogue many times. It was extremely difficult,” added the director.

Although there were some disagreements during the making, Lee Sang Yong said he was honored to work with such a great crew for his debut film.

Ma Seok Do continues to play the hero

“I was so stunned when I received the offer for the movie, I couldn’t believe I got such a great opportunity. Director Kang Yoon Sung, who was originally offered the job, couldn’t accept it. because he’s working on another project.

I was worried because season one got 6.88 million views. People say, there is no better sequel than the original. So my goal is not to make a better movie, but just to give my best with what I have,” he said.

While the first season focused on police officer Ma Seok Do protecting the neighborhood of Garibong Dong in southwestern Seoul from intruder Jang Chen, the sequel transports him to a foreign country. What sets the sequel apart from the original is the overseas setting.

“I was thinking about how Ma Seok Do would deal with crimes that happen outside of Korea. If you see movies like that Die Hard, usually the main characters will change due to some new developments or internal conflicts as the series develops. But we decided to choose a different path and keep the character Ma Seok Do in the original film and change his environment,” Lee Sang Yong said.