KUALA LUMPUR: When South Korean zombie action drama Train To Busan came out in 2016, it made a killing at the box office and impressed critics and cinemagoers alike.
Directed by Yeon Sang-Ho, the movie was reported to be the highest grossing Korean movie in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore.
No surprise that the thrilling movie, which follows passengers on a train from Seoul to Busan in the middle of a zombie outbreak, has attracted the attention of Hollywood as news of an English remake has surfaced recently.
According to Deadline, franchise maestro James Wan, who is responsible for The Conjuring, Insidious, Saw and Annabelle movies, has been chosen to produce the remake.
Writer Gary Dauberman, of Annabelle, It and The Nun fame, will be penning the script. To date, no details have been revealed on the cast for the upcoming English version of the zombie thriller.
After the success of the popular Korean horror movie, the rights to the English remake were purchased by French studio, Gaumont.
Kim Woo-Taek, CEO of New Entertainment World which distributed the Korean film, said: “We are more than happy to start our business with Gaumont, one of the greatest film companies with rich experience in terms of global projects. We hope this opportunity could let Korean films get more attention and be familiar with the audience all over the world.”
Apparently five Hollywood production companies, New Line, Universal, Paramount, Lionsgate and Screen Gems, had also expressed interest for the remake.
It was recently reported that obtaining the rights to the movie would come at a seven figure price and that New Line Cinema was in the final stages of negotiations to finally seal the deal.
At the same time, a sequel to the Korean movie is currently underway with Yeon Sang-Ho reported to be currently writing a working script.
The director revealed that: “It is an extension of Train To Busan, after the virus has spread throughout Korea, but the characters are not the same. It shares the same world view and is a zombie action film that deals with the aftermath on the peninsula of what happened in Train To Busan.”
He added that the development for the next movie would be much more rigorous since the sequel would be on a much larger scale:
“I’m still writing the script, but the scale is rather large since there will be action with something to it,” he said.
So far, no released dates have been announced for the Hollywood remake or the Korean sequel.
Wan and Dauberman are also pretty busy at the moment with The Conjuring director concentrating on the release of the upcoming underwater superhero adventure Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa.
Dauberman is currently working on It: Chapter 2, a third Annabelle movie and a Swamp Thing series for DC’s streaming service DC Universe.