The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil: Story, Box Office and Remake

Release year: 2019 · Runtime: 1 hr 49 min · Director: Lee Won-tae · Original title: Aginjeon (romanized Korean title) · Opening weekend (US/Canada): $78,655 (IMDb (film database listing))

Eight data points frame the film, and one pattern stands out: the original’s numbers are documented, while the remake still rests on announcements.

Is The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil based on a true story?

What the film’s premise is

• Wikipedia describes the 2019 film as based on a true story (Wikipedia, open encyclopedia)
• Moria Reviews says the film claims to draw on the crimes of Yoo Young-chul, who killed and cannibalised twenty senior citizens and massage parlour workers in 2003-4 (Moria Reviews, horror review site)

What sources confirm about its origin

• A reviewer excerpt reportedly places the story in a 2005 real incident in Cheonan, South Korea (IMDb News, entertainment news)
• None of the cited sources includes an official document tying the film to either named case

The catch: the sources name two different real cases, and the research turned up nothing that settles which one, if either, the film follows.

Was The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil a hit or a flop?

Opening gross

• Opening weekend in the US and Canada: $78,655 (IMDb, film database listing)
• US and Canada total: $216,494 (IMDb, film database listing)
• Worldwide total: $25.8 million (Wikipedia, open encyclopedia), close to IMDb’s listed $25,775,371
• South Korea total: 3,364,924 admissions (KOFIC, official film database)

What cumulative earnings are and are not confirmed

• Confirmed: a worldwide gross of about $25.8 million (Wikipedia, open encyclopedia)
• Unknown: the production budget, since no source in the research states it
• Missing: a stated benchmark for a hit, so a hit or flop label has nothing to measure against

What this means: the domestic numbers show a solid run, but calling the film a hit in global terms would be guesswork.

Is The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil a good movie?

Named critics are thin in the research, so the quality verdict rests on aggregate numbers from video transcripts rather than full reviews.

The implication: these sources cannot settle the quality question, so treat the scores as a lead rather than a verdict.

Can you explain the climax of The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil?

Setup leading into the climax

• The closest plot-level detail comes from Moria Reviews, which describes the police-underworld collaboration as greatly exaggerated (Moria Reviews, horror review site)
• No cited source describes the events that lead into the climax

How the climax resolves the crime plot

• No cited source confirms how the crime plot resolves
• Any ending detail would need a cited Tier 2 plot summary before it appears here

The catch: an ending explanation built on listing snippets would be guesswork, so this section stops at what the sources back.

Who is the killer in The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil?

The killer’s role in the story

• Kim Sung-kyu is listed in the cast (Wikipedia, open encyclopedia)
• The research notes link Kim Sung-kyu to a serial-killer role, but no cited plot source confirms it

Where the identity is revealed

• No cited source places the reveal in a specific scene
• The reveal cannot be verified from the sources supplied

What this means: the killer question rests on a cast credit, not a verified plot source, so treat the serial-killer role as unconfirmed until a cited synopsis settles it.

Film Biz Zone lists the production status as released, the running time as 109 minutes, the country as South Korea and the rating as 19.

Korean Film Biz Zone (KOFIC, official film database)

The police-underworld collaboration is greatly exaggerated, the review says of the film’s claimed true-crime basis.

Moria Reviews (horror review site)

Wikipedia describes the 2019 film as based on a true story, a description the other cited sources do not match.

Wikipedia (open encyclopedia)

The record backs a strong South Korean run and a remake that is moving forward, but it stops short of a verdict on quality, the ending or the killer. Paramount’s English-language project, with James Wan named as director (JoBlo, film news site), is the forward stake to watch. Fans planning around the remake should wait for Paramount Pictures to confirm a schedule, since none of the cited sources gives one.

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Frequently asked questions

Each answer above stops at what the cited sources confirm, so the remake and dub questions may shift as new reports arrive.