Bong Joon-ho's "The Host" (2006) still holds the title of top grossing film of all time at the Korean box office. Its sequel and expectant box office successor, "The Host 2" is still in the development stage yet already generating a lot of buzz. Announcements from Chungeoram Film, producer of both films, reveal that the sequel will actually be a prequel, set in 2003, and is to feature multiple monsters.
Writer Kang Do-yoon, a popular Internet cartoonist known by his pen-name Kang-full (Kang Doo), is said to have completed the screenplay for the blockbuster project which plans to go into production this summer. While a new director and cast have yet to be announced, the 'prequel' will this time feature monsters appearing from the Cheonggyecheon, a newly developed stream and leisure area running through central Seoul.
The Cheonggyecheon project was developed by President-elect LEE Myung-bak when he was mayor of Seoul. The film is to be set during the initial 2003 construction of the Cheonggyecheon which was formerly covered by an elevated highway under which the stream was buried. It will portray the lives of the street vendors, construction workers and police before the stream was completed.
As with the original, political and social subtext is to be expected along with enhanced CGI effects, this time completely homegrown. The film is budgeted at US$ 11 million, similar to the original. It will see a release in the summer of 2009.
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