Yorgos Lanthimos May Take on Remake of South Korean Film

Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos could be taking on a remake of the South Korean film Save the Green Planet with a production date now in sight.

Following on from CJ Entertainment’s report last year that Yorgos Lanthimos may be directing the remake, the latest issue of Production Weekly includes a posting stating that filming will start this coming June in the UK and New York City.

It was also reported that Emma Stone, leading actress in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things,  for which the Greek director is Oscar nominated, is in talks with production to feature as the female lead in the Save the Green Planet remake.

Will Tracy, who worked on Succession and The Menu, wrote the screenplay for the new film, and Ari Aster is on-board as the producer. The South Korean 2003 original has a 91 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Yorgos Lanthimos Reveals South Korean Film Remake May Happen

In an interview last month with British lifestyle magazine Dazed, Yorgos Lanthimos revealed he’s still working with Ottessa Moshfegh on an adaptation of My Year of Rest and Relaxation, and that he may move ahead with the remake of Save the Green Planet as his next production. “There are a number of projects I’m looking at, and Save the Green Planet is one of them,” the Greek director told the magazine.

It was announced in May 2020 that CJ Entertainment would be producing this English-language remake of the cult film. Initially, it had seemed that the original film’s director Jang Joon-hwan would be directing the remake, but now, Yorgos Lanthimos appears to be directing.

If this latest project does go ahead, it will be the fourth consecutive film that Yorgos Lanthimos has produced with Emma Stone, and that’s without taking into account the pair’s recently-premiered short film, Bleat.

Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things has received Oscar nominations in eleven categories, as well as the filmmaker himself being nominated for Best Director, which puts him in contest with the likes of Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese.

The 2024 Oscar nominations were announced on January 23rd, with Poor Things being nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress (Emma Stone), Best Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo), Best Director (Lanthimos), Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Production Design, and Makeup and Hairstyling.

The film also stormed to victory last month with two Golden Globe wins, taking home the award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, along with Emma Stone bagging the Best Actress Award. The Greek director celebrated his win by giving a shoutout to Bruce Springsteen, who was in the audience.

Three of Yorgos Lanthimos’ films have been nominated for Oscars before, and the director has won and been nominated for various other industry awards, too.