Another day, another bit of remake news. Ok, so a little over a day. Yet, once again, it’s news that rather exciting. I’d say to get your hopes up that this is a trend that keeps rolling, but Hollywood knows all too well how to mess things up. Anyways, if you’ve been following things around these parts, you know Boom Howdy loves the 2016 film, Train To Busan. There’s also a good chance you’d be aware of our fondness for the work of Timo Tjahjanto. Well, just like a solid PB&J, two great tastes are colliding together.
As with a bunch of news these days, Deadline (although it could easily be Variety or THR) had a piece tieing the up-and-coming director and the Korean hit together. Word on the street is that Tjahjanto is deep in negotiations to adapt the film for New Line. The move is a big get for the Warner Bros. subsidiary, who landed the rights in a bidding war, back in 2018. An English language remake was initially announced two years before that, right after the original film started to pick up steam on the festival circuit. Just in case you needed more reason for excitement, is that James Wan (in the news once already this week) will be producing the movie, through his Atomic Monster banner.
For those who need a brief refresher, Train To Busan follows “a group of passengers, who become trapped on a speeding train during a zombie outbreak in South Korea.” There’s more to it to that, but the film excelled due to creative action, well drawn characters and a lot of heart. Ask most people who saw it and they’re likely to reveal that the film made them week. Yet, the film isn’t just a stand alone piece, it’s part of a larger world. Sang-ho Yeon, who write & directed Busan, also made an animated prequel, Seoul Station and sequel, Peninsula. With one singular world to work with, it’ll be interesting to see how Tjahjanto spins the new tale.
Speaking of the director, if ever their was a presence poised to explode & become a household name, it’s him. On the international and action front, he’s already a minor legend. In the last handful l of years, he’s directed several films that have been heralded for their vision and insanity. Headshot, The Night Comes For Us, May The Devil Take You, May The Devil Take You Too. If any of these aren’t ringing a bell, you need to search them out immediately. Netflix and Shudder are all you need to catch up to speed.
Those four films easily showcase just how capable Timo Tjahjanto is, when navigating within the genre landscape. He’s more than willing to get a little bloody and throw his whole arsenal of tricks at the screen. The Night Comes For Us is a film destined to go down as bonafide cult classic. Only because of how many people have slept on it. You’d be hard pressed to find a film as relentlessly entertaining or punishing, from the last few years. While there’s no saying how this Train To Busan remake will fair, with Tjahjanto directing & Gary Dauberman (It/Annabelle) scripting, at the very least, it won’t be boring.
