Director Lee Sang-yong "I took on a new challenge with Ma Dong-seok in Sin City 3"

Director Lee Sang-yong, who made his directorial debut with the movie 'Crime City 2', won the 10 million director title. He returned to 'Sin City 3' after about a year. This time, he put his head together with Ma Dong-seok. This time, I challenged a new story and structure, not an obvious story.

'Criminal City 3' is a monster detective Ma Seok-do (Ma Dong-seok) moves to Gwangsu University in Seoul to catch Joo Seong-cheol (Lee Jun-hyeok), who is behind a new drug crime case, and Ricky (Aoki Munetaka), another villain involved in a drug case. It depicts an exhilarating crime-fighting operation for the sake of others.

Director Lee Sang-yong served as an assistant director for 'Criminal City' and led the team. For him, 'Sin City 2' is his debut work. Having made his directorial debut with 'Sin City 2', he had the good fortune of directing 'Sin City 3'.

Director Lee Sang-yong said, "After finishing the work, I feel relieved. I started 'Crime City 2' in April 2019, and I devoted my time to the 'Criminal City' series for almost four years without a break. After working on two works in a row, I still feel like I am It's like a dream," he said. He continued, "The 'Crime City' series itself gave me a chance to debut. Before I had the opportunity to debut and released, he suggested 3 episodes. The 3rd episode had to be the direction the series should go. So, 3rd and 4th episodes were filmed at the same time. filmed,” he added.

Director Lee Sang-yong said, “For the series to continue, we have no choice but to see it as an obvious story. But it is not obvious. , It was meaningful to me to take on new challenges such as a new structure and a new villain. There was a lot of fear of failure, but everyone worked hard."

Director Lee Sang-yong's debut film, 'Criminal City 2', was released last year and mobilized 12.69 million people. As a result, director Lee Sang-yong earned the title of '10 million director'. He confided, "People around me make it burdensome. They make fun of it as a joke. 'Criminal City 3' is about to be released, and I think it's about to be released, but it's also a burden. Since the premiere screening is not an official release, I have to be judged after it is released."

As the previous work broke 10 million viewers, attention is being paid to whether the sequel will also be able to break through 10 million viewers. Director Lee Sang-yong said, "I didn't think that 'Criminal City 2' would exceed 10 million viewers. It was good just because it was not bad. , Actor Son Seok-gu played a huge role. Everything came at the right time. I wonder if we can redefine it after 10 years. On the weekend (even though we held a premiere screening), I still wonder if I can do this. Let's just cross the break-even point, I hope it doesn't go bankrupt."

Director Lee Sang-yong said that 'Sin City 2' was filmed for viewers aged 19 and older. He said, “It was not easy to shoot this time with an audience of 19 or older because the previous work exceeded 10 million viewers. Also, when I thought about it, I thought it did not fit the series. I wondered if there was a need for a viewer. I wondered if it would be more helpful to make the audience like it and continue this series."

Director Lee Sang-yong said, “There is a saying that villains are weak, but they are not weak at all. When I first saw the scenario, what was attractive was that there were two villains. Joo Seong-cheol himself faces a crisis. The existence of Maseok-do is a crisis to Joo Seong-cheol, so he rolls his head and acts shamelessly on how to overcome this situation. The texture is different. Actor Lee Joon-hyeok did a good job in that part."

He also said, "'Sin City 4' will have a slightly different texture, so there will be a lot of expectations," he said. As soon as it was over, I filmed 'Crime City 4'. Personally, I am proud of it.

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