THE WAILING, the ghostly South Korean flick from Hong-Jin Na that haunted audiences last year, has also captured the imagination of Ridley Scott's production company Scott Free. They are currently in early negotiations with Fox International Production Korea to develop an English-language remake of the property.
Said FIP Korea head Hosung Kim:
They said The Wailing reminded them of films such as The Exorcist, The Ring and Seven. The locality and sensibility of The Wailing is so strong that I don’t think it would be easy to do a Western remake, and it will be important who directs it. So I told him I think the only director who could do the remake is Na Hong Jin. But we are still in early stages of talks.We’re being careful. As you know, there are a lot of remakes out there being developed [that haven’t come to fruition].
Most people, myself included, would argue that most English-language remakes of foreign horror movies are pretty useless, but there's a silver lining around the talks to remake THE WAILING and the recent efforts to get an English-language TRAIN TO BUSAN off the ground. It proves that South Korea is producing vital and electric horror cinema, and we should definitely keep our ears to the ground for the next works by these filmmakers from across the globe.
You can pick yourself up a copy of THE WAILING right here!
THE WAILING shows what happens when:
a foreigner’s mysterious appearance in a quiet, rural village causes suspicion among the locals – suspicion which quickly turns to hysteria as the townspeople begin killing each other in brutal outbursts for seemingly no reason. As the investigating officer watches his daughter fall under the same savage spell, he agrees to consult a shaman for answers – unknowingly escalating the situation into something far more dangerous.
Hwang Jung-Min, Chun Woo-Hee, and Kwak Do-Won star.