''Master'' (, also stylized as MA$TER) is a South Korean

action crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by Cho Ui-seok. Written jointly by Cho Ui-seok and Kim Hyun-duk, it stars

Lee Byung-hun Lee Byung-hun (; born July 12, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He has received critical acclaim for his work in a wide range of genres, most notably ''Joint Security Area'' (2000); ''A Bittersweet Life'' (2005); ''The Good, the Bad, the Weird'' ...

, Gang Dong-won and

Kim Woo-bin Kim Woo-bin (born Kim Hyun-joong on July 16, 1989) is a South Korean actor and model. He began his career as a runway model and made his acting debut in the television drama ''White Christmas (TV series), White Christmas''. He subsequently gaine ...

in the lead roles. The narrative centers around the manhunt for a conman launched by South Korea's financial crime unit after he absconds with the money and assumes a new identity, causing a cop to team up with the conman's mastermind partner in order to crack the case involving a nationwide financial fraud leads to the Southeast Asian haven for scam artists, thieves, and criminals: Metro Manila. The film opened theatrically in South Korea on 21 December 2016, and received more than 7 million admissions nationwide. Released on 1,501 screens, it grossed more than $48 million at the South Korean box office.

Plot

An intellectual crime investigation team goes after company One Network. The company is involved in a massive fraud case.

Cast

Main cast

as President Jin, a con man of the One Network fraud case. * Gang Dong-won as Kim Jae-myung, head of the Criminal Investigation team *

as Park Jang-goon, The mastermind and the brains of President Jin.

Supporting cast

Uhm Ji-won Uhm Ji-won (born December 25, 1977) is a South Korean actress. Career Uhm Ji-won made her acting debut in the late 1990s, and after an early role in the Korean tokusatsu series ''Vectorman'', went on to appear in a number of films and televi ...

as Shin Gemma, a lieutenant in the police investigation team *

Oh Dal-su Oh Dal-su (born 15 June 1968) is a South Korean actor. Career Oh Dal-su began his acting career in theater in Busan, and since 2001 has been the head of theater company ''Singiru Manhwagyeong'' ("Mirage and Kaleidoscope"). His rich experience ...

as Hwang Myung-joon, a corrupt prosecutor *

Jin Kyung Jin Kyung (born March 27, 1972) is a South Korean actress. Career Jin made her stage debut in 1998 and spent ten years in theater, before becoming active in film and television. She won Best Supporting Actress at the 50th Baeksang Arts Award ...

as Kim Mi-yong, also known as Mother Kim, an advertising executive

Others

Woo Do-hwan Woo Do-hwan (born July 12, 1992) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in the television dramas ''Save Me (South Korean TV series), Save Me'' (2017), ''Mad Dog (TV series), Mad Dog'' (2017), ''Tempted (TV series), Tempted'' (2 ...

as Man with baseball cap backwards * Jung Won-joong as Chief of the National Police Agency * Yoo Yeon-soo as Bureau director Han * Jo Hyun-chul as Ahn Kyung-nam *

Park Hae-soo Park Hae-soo (; born November 21, 1981) is a South Korean actor who is best known worldwide for portraying Cho Sang-woo in ''Squid Game'' (2021). He is also known for his starring roles in the television series ''Prison Playbook'' (2017–2018 ...

as Man with kangol hat *

Lee Soon-won Yi Sunwon (; born 1957) is a modern South Korean writer who writes about diverse topics. Life Yi Sunwon was born in Gangneung on the coast of the Sea of Japan in 1957. While in high school, Yi decided to become a farmer. In a dramatic display ...

as Criminal Investigation Team member 1 * Bae Jung-nam as Criminal Investigation Team member 2 * Jung Soo-gyu as Criminal Investigation Team member 3 * Kim Jung-woo as Criminal Investigation Team member 4 * Heo Hyung-gyi as Criminal Investigation Team member 5 * Joo Seok-tae as Peter Kim *Lee Dong-jin as Male employee *Kim Won-sik as Secretary Han * Jang Yool as One Network employee

Special appearance

Kim Byeong-ok Kim Byeong-ok (born October 11, 1960) is a South Korean actor. A veteran supporting actor, he is best known for his role as Mr. Han in '' Oldboy''. Career In 2015, he was featured in a controversial Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: En ...

* Park Jung-ja as Teacher Shin *

Monsour del Rosario Manuel Monsour Tabib del Rosario III (born May 11, 1965) is a Filipino actor, martial artist, producer, and politician. He is popularly known as a Filipino taekwondo champion and actor who starred in several Filipino and international action f ...

as Senator of the Philippines *Ian Ignacio as Bodyguard *Diego Salvador as Bodyguard *Lei Arellano as Bodyguard

Production

Filming began on 23 April 2016. Filming took around 2 months time in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, including Binondo,

Intramuros Intramuros (Latin for "inside the walls") is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila. Present-day ...

Bulacan Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan ( tl, Lalawigan ng Bulacan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on August 15, 1578, and part of the Me ...

, and

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 16 ...

Marketing

The film was showcased at the American Film Market held in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

from November 2–9. It has been sold to 31 countries including the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, the

and other countries.

Release and box office

The VIP Premiere of ''Master'' was held on 19 December 2016 at CGV Yeongdeungpo in Seoul. ''Master'' was initially released in South Korea and was screened at 1,448 theatres. As per the Korea Box Office Information System (KOBIS) tallied by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) on the first day of the release 393,247 viewers were attracted and took 66.3 percent of the total box office sales that day. According to the Korean Film Council, ''Master'' topped the box office charts and became the most watched movie during the Christmas weekend of 2016 in South Korea. It was reported an audience of about 2.2 million viewed the movie. In the first five days since its opening on 21 December, the film has reached three million mark in ticket sales, earning 24.8 billion won (Approx: USD 20.5 million) in total. As of early February 2017, ''Master'' has grossed US$49.81 million in South Korean box office and has sold 7.14 million tickets according to the Korean Film Council. ''Master'' ended up as the No. 11 bestselling film for 2016 in Korea.