Stallone has explicitly stated that he was drawn to the "bizarre truth" of the premise. "It’s one of those things you think could never happen," Stallone said in an interview. "But in the streets, survival makes strange bedfellows. And that’s real." Knowing that The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil is rooted in a true story changes how you watch the film. It elevates it from a stylish action-thriller to a social commentary on the failures of the justice system.
purchased the remake rights to the film in 2019. The planned Hollywood remake, titled The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil , is set to star Ma Dong-seok reprising his role (unusual for a remake) alongside possibly Bruce Willis or another major American star. is the gangster the cop the devil based on true story
But after watching the film’s relentless violence and its central premise—a gangster and a cop forced to team up to catch a serial killer—viewers are left with a burning question: Stallone has explicitly stated that he was drawn
Unlike the cinematic killer in the film (who is a calculated monster), Kang Ho-sung was a disorganized but highly dangerous predator. He didn’t care about the victim’s age, gender, or social status. He killed a student, a housewife, a convenience store worker, and, most relevantly, a gangster. This is where the "true story" diverges and converges with the film. After the gangster boss survived the attack (he was critically wounded but lived, thanks to his heavy leather jacket and quick emergency response), he was furious. The police, at the time, had no idea that a serial killer was staging car accidents. They assumed these were isolated robberies gone wrong. And that’s real
The short answer is While the characters are fictionalized and the plot amped up for cinematic thrills, the film’s core narrative engine—a serial killer who attacks a mob boss, leading to an unlikely alliance—is rooted in a bizarre and real criminal incident from the early 2000s.
