Universal Pictures purchased remake rights to "The Host" on November 1.
The remake deal posting at $600,000 with the American film studio, the remade Korean movie will be available worldwide in English. Cineclick Asia, Korean international film sales firm, headed the deal with Universal Pictures.
"(The offer we received from Universal Pictures) is not the most satisfactory amount, but this deal is meaningful in it of itself, because a major American film studio will be remaking a story based on Asian family values and paradigm, instead of a generic monster, horror flick", told the movie's producers and distributors.
Korean movie "The Host" grossed record breaking 14 million tickets at the box office this summer, when it was first released. The movie is the highest-ever grossing film in Korea to date, exceeding $84 million.
A prominent US entertainment magazine, Variety, reports that the remaking of the film is set up through two independent film production companies related to Universal, Roy Lee and Doug Davidson's Vertigo Entertainment and Gold Circle Films. Universal's executive Vice President Peter Cramer and David Ortiz will produce the remake.
"The deal took place on November 1", told a producer of the film. "Very shortly, both parties will discuss and negotiate the timeframe for the remaking project".
The story of "The Host", produced by Korean director Bong Joon-ho and released in July through Korean movie distributor Showbox, is about a five-member family that runs a kiosk alongside Seoul's Han River and loses its only daughter to a monster, which suddenly appears and destroys the tranquility of the riverside.
"The Host" was highly praised by movie critics when it was introduced at the 59th Cannes International Film Festival in France last May.
The original movie will be released at major US theaters in February, 2007.
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