In his review of South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s genre-melding monster movie, The Host, Empire’s own Simon Crook advised readers thus: “catch it before the inevitable remake.”
That was in 2006. And two years later, the inevitable has happened. The only surprises? That it took so long (and no, Cloverfield was not a remake) – and that Gore Verbinski is involved.
The Pirates Of The Caribbean director who, of course, has experience of adapting Asian movies for American audiences with The Ring, will only produce the remake for Universal. Instead, newcomer Fredrik Bond – a commercials director - will call the shots.
Mark Poirier, who wrote Smart People, will write the new version, but it seems that, for now at least, the story will remain largely the same – giant mutated squid-y monster-type thing lumbers out of a river without warning one day, attacks and kills a bunch of people and takes a young girl back to its underground nest, prompting her dysfunctional family to band together to try to save her.
It’ll be interesting, though, to see if Bond can capture the same blend of scares, laughs and genuinely affecting drama that marked out The Host on its debut. Then, of course, there’s the early attack sequence, which took place in broad daylight in Bong’s version. With all the CG bells and whistles Hollywood can muster at Bond’s disposal, we’re curious to see how it compares.