Yeon Sang-ho’s “zombies on a train” film Train to Busan was a surprise hit this year. The film that followed a group of train riders as they were dealing with the zombie apocalypse delivered all the thrills and heart we could ask for and was one of the overnight sensations at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The film made $81 million in Korea alone and almost $2 million during a limited US release as well. The well-received film scored a 95% Rotten Tomatoes score. You can check out our review of the film here. As always, the film worked perfectly the way it was presented, and ax expected, we’ll soon be getting an English-language version of the film.
Knowing how Hollywood rolls, if something works in another country, we just have to make an Americanized version of it. It worked for films like The Departed (Internal Affairs) and Godzilla (depending on who you ask), so it looks like we’ll be giving Train to Busan a try. Deadline reports that French studio Gaumont has secured the rights for an English-language remake for the film, beating out many big time Hollywood studios as well. While the deal with Gaumont is primarily for English rights, they also secured French-language rights, but are not planning on filming a French version of the film. It’s reported that the rights were purchased by more than seven figures, so expect a remake to start filming in Los Angeles quite soon. Hopefully they can capture the excitement, horror and emotion of the original film, and not water it down.
