Korean Superstar Don Lee’s ‘Holy Night: Demon Hunters’ to Launch in Berlin Through Lotte Cultureworks (EXCLUSIVE)

Patrick Frater
·3 min read
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Lotte Cultureworks will launch “Holy Night: Demon Hunters,” likely to be one of the biggest Korean movies of the year, at next month’s European Film Market in Berlin.

The occult-themed action movie stars Don Lee, the Korean-American superstar who also fronts “The Roundup” comedy-action franchise. The fourth instalment in that series “The Roundup: Punishment” will have its world premiere in the Berlin festival’s Berlinale Special section, with Lee expected to be in attendance, giving Lotte some additional momentum with the new title launch.

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“Holy Night: Demon Hunters” sees Seoul descend into chaos as a devil-worshipping criminal network takes control. In a desperate plea for salvation, the police are forced to enlist Holy Night, a trio of demon hunters armed with supernatural powers.

The cast also includes Seohyun (real name Seo Ju-hyun) of K-pop sensation Girls Generation, who has acting credits in Netflix film “Love and Leashes” and TV series “Private Lives,” as well as David Lee (aka Lee Da-wit) (“Svaha: The Sixth Finger,” and the upcoming “Squid Game” season 2”).

The film is directed by first-time feature director Lim Dae-hee, who developed the screenplay with the star and producer Don Lee. A Lotte sister company will distribute the film in Korea, but a local release date has not yet been set.

Lee, who is known in Korea as Ma Dong-seok, was in the entertainment industry for many years, playing supporting roles and operating as a physical trainer to better-known performers, before breaking out into the big time through roles in “Train to Busan” (2016), “The Outlaws” (2017), and “Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days” (2018).

Although it bore a different title, “The Outlaws” is the first of the “Roundup” pictures which mix comedic timing with bone-crushing violence. Variety’s review called it, “One of the most enjoyable South Korean action movies in recent years [..] a deft mix of brutal gang-warfare thrills and Keystone Cops comedics.”

Lee reprised the role as a fists-first investigator, known as a ‘beast cop’ called Ma Seok-do, in 2022’s “The Roundup,” which was the biggest film of 2022 in Korea with a box office of over $95 million. His third go around in last year’s “The Roundup: No Way Out,” grossed $83 million in Korea.

Lee has cleverly parlayed his rise from obscurity and his ability to work on both sides of the Pacific into a prolific development and production nexus with greenlighting power. His company vehicles include Big Punch Pictures and Team Gorilla.

These have given him multiple credits, including co-writer, planner, producer, executive producer and performer on “The Roundup” titles. Big Punch and Nova Film share the production credits on “Holy Night.” Big Punch is also a producer of the recently released Lee-starring Netflix movie “Badland Hunters.”

Lee made his Hollywood debut in Marvel film “The Eternals,” by Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao, and is reported to be developing a U.S. remake of “The Gangster, The Cop, the Devil,” a 2019 Korean action film in which he starred. He is also reported to be expanding “The Roundup” to six or seven titles.

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