What can you do when people keep trying to remake your films? Start remaking some yourself!
With his latest tour de force 박쥐 (Thirst) still doing festival rounds, and preparing to screen a new, longer cut of the film at the upcoming PIFF, Park Chan-Wook seems to have decided his next move, waiting for his ambitious venture with Bong Joon-Ho set for 2012, the SF blockbuster 설국열차 (Transperceneige). According to a Star News exclusive (so we'll treat this as an informed rumor until more sources pop up), Park will in fact return to Chungmuro with the first remake of his career, adapting Costa-Gavras' 2005 film Le Couperet (The Ax), itself adapted from Donald E. Westlake's eponymous novel. The premise couldn't be more topical: a middle aged, middle class salaryman loses his job after a downsizing, and after spending the following two years downsizing his lifestyle, he decides to overcome competition in his own personal way: chopping down anyone who gets in the way of his path back into fiscal solvency.
Park was approached by Studio Canal at the last Cannes Film Festival, right as offers from Hollywood were raining down on him, so it's likely they will join Moho Films in a co-production. Last year's debutant Lee Gyeong-Mi of 미쓰 홍당무 (Crush & Blush) is writing the script as we speak, and the film plans to shoot in New York. Feels exactly like the kind of film Park might turn into brilliance (particularly following the global crisis), so we'll just have to hope this turns out to be true. In any case, we'll keep you updated.
[Star News]
With his latest tour de force 박쥐 (Thirst) still doing festival rounds, and preparing to screen a new, longer cut of the film at the upcoming PIFF, Park Chan-Wook seems to have decided his next move, waiting for his ambitious venture with Bong Joon-Ho set for 2012, the SF blockbuster 설국열차 (Transperceneige). According to a Star News exclusive (so we'll treat this as an informed rumor until more sources pop up), Park will in fact return to Chungmuro with the first remake of his career, adapting Costa-Gavras' 2005 film Le Couperet (The Ax), itself adapted from Donald E. Westlake's eponymous novel. The premise couldn't be more topical: a middle aged, middle class salaryman loses his job after a downsizing, and after spending the following two years downsizing his lifestyle, he decides to overcome competition in his own personal way: chopping down anyone who gets in the way of his path back into fiscal solvency.
Park was approached by Studio Canal at the last Cannes Film Festival, right as offers from Hollywood were raining down on him, so it's likely they will join Moho Films in a co-production. Last year's debutant Lee Gyeong-Mi of 미쓰 홍당무 (Crush & Blush) is writing the script as we speak, and the film plans to shoot in New York. Feels exactly like the kind of film Park might turn into brilliance (particularly following the global crisis), so we'll just have to hope this turns out to be true. In any case, we'll keep you updated.
[Star News]
Really liked 'le couperet' (book and the film adaptation) so it'd be interesting to see what Chan-Wook Park will do with the same source material
Doing another book adaptation isn't really a remake in...ehhh....my book
He's remaking the film, more than going directly for the book adaptation (hence the "first remake," otherwise... well, Oldboy got there first).
If Chan-Wook Park directs it, I'll watch it.
well x, I think it's a bit naive that Chan-Wook Park would only read the screenplay and remake that instead of going back to the book and then deciding what direction he'll want to go
Of course. Just saying that, technically, it's a film remake, not a book adaptation.