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'Dredd' & 'The Grey' Producer Developing Remake of 'I Saw the Devil'
by Ethan Anderton
December 20, 2013
Source: ComingSoon
After Spike Lee's remake of Park Chan-wook's Oldboy bombed at the box office and hasn't received much praise from critics, you would think producers would shy away from English-language remakes of critically praised foreign films for a little while. However, Dredd and The Grey producer Adi Shankar, along with Spencer Silna and the duo's 1984 Private Defense Contractors production banner, have just acquired the English language remake rights to I Saw the Devil, the 2010 South Korean thriller from director Kim Jee Woon (The Good, the Bad, the Weird, The Last Stand). So there's something we can lament in the future.
Shankar says (via ComingSoon):
"Kim Jee Woon's 'I Saw the Devil' is perfect in so many ways. The intention is not to remake the film per say but rather to 'port' it console style for international audiences."
That sounds even worse than remaking the film as its own unique entity. It treats the film as a product and not a work of art. Anyway, the original film actually follows original Oldboy star Choi Min-sik as a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. His latest victim is the beautiful Ju-yeon, pregnant fiancée of elite special agent Soo-hyun (Byung-hun Lee of G.I. Joe). Obsessed with revenge, Soo-hyun decides to track down the murderer, even if doing so means becoming a monster himself. Shankar is also working on a C-list female version of The Expendables, and it likely won't shake a stick at the developing film The ExpendaBelles with a much more high profile cast, so we're not surprised to see him try to grab something else just to cash in on a recognizable title with little work required. Let's just hope it never gets made.
23 Comments
1
I realize a lot of people were disappointed in the 'Old Boy' remake but THIS time... this might work.
lewinston on Dec 20, 2013
2
It won't, name ANY american remake of any Asian film.
James Cobb on Dec 21, 2013
3
The Departed; The Magnificent Seven and I want to say 'The Grudge' but I've never seen it.
lewinston on Dec 21, 2013
4
Ah not seen those but no no no to the grudge lol
James Cobb on Dec 21, 2013
5
Hollywood should keep their violating fingers off of "I saw the Devil." That movie can not be made better.
Guy who comments on things on Dec 20, 2013
6
Agreed.
Reznik on Dec 20, 2013
7
I don't expect it to be made better, just different. I'm really looking forward to this.
OfficialJab on Dec 20, 2013
8
I know! how hard is it for English to just read subtitles!? doesn't distract me format he beautiful imagery at all, and if so, multiple veiwings will fix that.
James Cobb on Dec 21, 2013
9
This movie had one of the nastiest Achilles tendon slashing scene, right after Pet sematary...
D6 on Dec 20, 2013
10
Honestly haven't seen I saw the Devil (but sure will now), but I've seen Pet Semetary enough to know what you're talking about. Try checking out that episode of the HBO prison series OZ about midway through. Nasty scene and really a kick-in-the-pants story wise. Poor guy.
Akirakorn on Dec 21, 2013
11
I saw the Devil is one of the most disturbing films I've ever seen....I loved it!
desispeed on Dec 20, 2013
12
Still haven't seen it, but its been on Netflix instant for some time and I've been meaning to. Loved The Good..., and The Last Stand.
grimjob on Dec 20, 2013
13
WATCH IT. Its a masterpiece, so violent and cruel, yet beautiful and tragic. The final shot is just incredible.
James Cobb on Dec 21, 2013
14
Will do.
grimjob on Dec 21, 2013
15
leave it alone please
Quynh Truong on Dec 20, 2013
16
Holy shit this is awesome.
OfficialJab on Dec 20, 2013
17
Please don't spoil this movie.
Xavier Abraham on Dec 20, 2013
18
Would rather see a Dredd sequel.
DetSvenskaMysteriet on Dec 21, 2013
19
NO NO NO NO did they not learn from the mess that was The OLDBOY remake!?
James Cobb on Dec 21, 2013
20
Can anyone write another bible? "NO" For me I Saw The Devil is that bible
Ehsan Davodi on Dec 21, 2013
21
What the hell is wrong with this guy? Take a lesson from Spike Lee, don't bother remaking classic foreign films just so you can make them english language. Sure, some may enjoy your movie, but that doesn't mean you'll make the money back, especially when people can easily spend less to actually buy the foreign copy. Such a shame that Hollywood continues to believe that remakes of newer movies are good ideas. I can think of a handful of movies from over 20 years ago that would be better remakes than this: The Stuff (1985), The Wraith (1986, awesome movie, I would love to see a remake done right), Rawhead Rex (1986), Maximum Overdrive (1986) and Krull (1983). Remake films that are bad or misunderstood/underrated and you should end up with a product that is far superior, if you put in the right amount of effort of course.
thejon93rd on Dec 21, 2013
22
The Wraith and Krull... I want to cry... pure 80s B-movie awesomeness right there.
Akirakorn on Dec 21, 2013
23
That's right, but remakes of those movies would have the potential to be fantastic because at least they won't be compared too much because they're twenty years apart and it'll only make the fan-bases for the two films that much more bigger (as it's deserved, because they are awesome movies). I wanna see remakes because I know there's more to see with those ideas. With I Saw the Devil being remade, I expect that they'll focus too much on the explicit violence and just turn it into another glorified Saw/torture-porn sequel. This movie's too great to be undermined like this, especially when it's not even 5 years old.
thejon93rd on Dec 21, 2013
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