Bong Joon-ho’s blockbuster 2006 film, The Host, has found a home for its inevitable US remake. Gore Verbinski has brought the film to Universal Pictures. Verbinski will be producing and handing the directorial reins over to feature film virgin Fredrik Bond. Bond has directed multiple commercials, and he says he “embraced an opportunity to mix a larger-than-life monster with a heartfelt family drama.”
The Host is a fantastic film that does an incredible job of melding a monster movie with the tale of a dysfunctional family. Toxins in Seoul’s Han River create a large, fast, voracious creature with a sweet tooth for Korean food (as in people.) While the city and military attempt to survive the monster’s onslaught, one family loses their youngest member to the creature and decides to rescue the girl and battle the beast. At turns dramatic, funny, and scary, The Host is also a uniquely Korean creation. A US remake will have to jettison some of the family behavior, like their outburst at the girl’s memorial, because it won’t quite seem believable to US audiences. And it goes without saying that the list of folks who die will be changing…
Besides a bigger budget and a lack of subtitles, I’m not sure what the US remake can bring to the table. The original film’s effects are still quite impressive, and they were actually created here in the US. A pseudo-prequel is also currently in production.
What did you think of The Host? Are you excited about a US remake? Why do Korean restaurants suck so bad for vegetarians?
