I SAW THE DEVIL Remake is Moving Forward with Writers and Directors
Last year it was revealed that Kim Jee Woon's brutally insane revenge movie I Saw The Devil was going to get remade. Like Oldboy, this is a movie I didn't want to see get remade, especially after seeing how awful the remake of Oldboy turned out.
The Wrap is reporting that the production is moving forward though, and writers Simon Barrett and Adam Wingard are close to making a deal to write and direct the English-language remake. They are best known for working on films such as V/H/S, You're Next, and The Guest.
The original film followed an elite special agent played by G.I. Joe's Lee Byung-hun, whose pregnant fiancé is murdered by a crazy madman played by Oldboy's Choi Min-sik. This sets the special agent off, and he begins a violently twisted mission of revenge, and in the process the lines of good and evil become very blurred. If you haven't seen this movie yet, then you need to check it out. I just can't help but think the remake is going to be toned down for American audiences.
Barrett is reportedly already deep into the scripting process and Wingard has begun meeting with actors to cast. Producer Keith Calder reacted to the news on Twitter saying that the reports are true and that it's still in early development. He also added,
"I have long held the theory that remakes don’t have to suck. I am excited about the opportunity to put that theory to the test."
I agree that remakes don't have to suck, but they almost always do. For their sake, I hope they can actually pull off a decent remake that fans will be happy with. The fans will tear them apart if it's not.
I also went ahead and included a video of producer Adi Shankar talking about why the remake isn't going to suck.