The Surge in Remakes: A Positive Trend? + News on J- and K-cinema & New Netflix and Disney+ Shows!
Hello there! ☺️
How are you? Is it getting colder or warmer where you are?
About 10 days ago or so, I stumbled upon an article from The Korea Times that said that several successful Korean features released in 2024 were remakes of foreign films. Baek Byung-yeul remarks:
These Korean remakes ["Pilot," "Handsome Guys,” "Hear Me: Our Summer" and “Hidden Face”] are not based exclusively on Hollywood movies, but rather draw from the original material's unique premises and solid storylines from various countries. By skillfully adapting these stories to fit Korean contexts, these remakes have been well-received by audiences and are becoming a trend in the domestic film industry.
In the West, much has been discussed in the past few years about the state of the film industry. After all, new releases are often sequels and remakes. Just this year, we’ve had Gladiator II, Twisters, Dune: Part Two, Moana 2, Inside Out 2, Paddington in Peru, Joker: Folie à Deux, Sonic The Hedgehog 3, and even Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
The list doesn’t stop there, of course. There were several other sequels. But remakes were also present, with Speak no Evil, Nosferatu, Mean Girls, The Fall Guy, The Amateur, and so on.
Sequels aren’t as popular in the East (and may it continue this way! 🙏) but remakes are — and if you take the article from The Korea Times into consideration, they will become even more common.
Variety recently reported that Warner Bros. signed a deal with CJ Entertainment that will allow “Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group [to] lead on English-language remakes of CJ ENM’s library, while CJ ENM will spearhead Korean-language adaptations of Warner Bros. films.”
Then, the question is: are remakes really needed?
I’m not sure they are always needed but I believe that the real issue lies in whether that story is embraced and localised to represent a different culture.
After all, cinema is all about the expression of not only emotions and ideals but also cultures. And when creating a remake, I trust that all of those are taken into consideration.
What’s the message that the original wanted to relay? Does the remake want to convey the same message? How can the remake interpret the story of the original through the lenses of a different culture?
For instance, Kwak Jae-yong’s My Sassy Girl (2001) was remade a million times. While some of those succeeded, it’s common knowledge that the American version, Yann Samuell’s My Sassy Girl (2008), didn’t. I have a feeling that they weren’t able to honestly localise the story of the original, creating this weird mash of Korean elements in an American setting that didn’t resonate with either audience.
Meanwhile, Yim Soon-rye’s Little Forest (2018) is an exceptional film. It’s the remake of Junichi Mori’s Little Forest: Summer & Autumn (2014) and Little Forest: Winter & Spring (which, in turn, is an adaptation of Daisuke Igarashi’s manga). Yim’s version not only honours the original but also gives it a Korean quality that is uniquely theirs. As I mentioned in my review on YouTube a few weeks back, one is very Korean and one is very Japanese — that is, they both look at the same tale through different perspectives.
So here’s to the hope that remakes become sincere, culturally aware interpretations of interesting stories from all around the world!
Let me know in the comments or on The Blossom Review your favourite remakes!
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What You Should Know This Week:
Did you know that we celebrate International K-drama Day on November 29th? As part of the celebration, Viki is giving free access (with ads) to 10 complete K-dramas from November 29th to December 13th. With a free account, you’ll be able to (re-)watch tvN’s Goblin, What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?, True Beauty, My Lovely Liar, and Serendipity’s Embrace; jTBC’s My Sweet Mobster, TV Chosun’s DNA Lover, Coupang TV’s Cinderella at 2AM, MBN’s Perfect Marriage Revenge and MBC’s A Good Day to Be a Dog. Happy K-drama Day, everyone!
Last Monday, Netflix held its first international showcase, where they shared previews for Last Samurai Standing and Alice in Borderland 3 (both coming out in 2025). They also announced the third season of Physical 100. According to The Hollywood Reporter,
Minyoung Kim, Netflix’s VP of content in Asia, shared that over 80 percent of the platform’s members around the world consume Korean content, whether it be films, scripted series or unscripted series.
Way to go, Netflix K-content! ✨
The 2024 Disney Content Showcase APAC took place in Singapore last Wednesday. During the event, anticipation was raised for Disney+’s Light Shop, which is coming out on December 4th. According to Deadline,
The streamer said that among the top 15 best performing international original titles released on its platform last year, nine of them were Korean titles, based on views.
And things shouldn’t slow down any time soon. The lineup for 2025 sounds incredibly exciting, including titles such as Hyper Knife (with Park Eun-bin and Sul Kyung-gu), Knock Off (with Kim Soo-hyun and Jo Bo-ah), and Nine Puzzles (with Son Suk-ku and Kim Da-mi). Disney+ also officially announced the production of Moving Season 2, The Murky Stream (with Rowoon and Shin Ye-eun), and The Manipulated (with Ji Chang-wook and Doh Kyung-soo).
As for Japanese content, Disney+ confirmed the premiere of Gannibal 2 on March 19th, 2025 as well as a collaboration with Nippon TV, which should bring more unscripted Japanese content into the platform. The first project that they’re working on together is Traveling with Snow Man (working title) — with further details still to come.
This week, I have four articles I’d like to recommend:
From The Korea Times, “'Firefighters' depicts real-life tragedy to honor fallen heroes: director”. The Firefighters is a new feature film by Kwak Kyung-taek inspired by real events. During the official press conference last week, Kwak mentioned that the film is “a story of sacrifice” while actress Lee Yoo-young said that she hopes “this incident becomes more widely known.” Make sure to check the article for more information.
Also from The Korea Times, “'About Family': heartwarming movie redefining meaning of family”. Directed by Yang Woo-sook, About Family is a dramedy about Ham Mu-ok (Kim Yoon-seok), a restaurant owner whose son, Ham Mun-seok (Lee Seung-gi), decides to become a monk. Things get complicated when two children appear at the restaurant insisting that Mun-seok is their father. A lovely review that makes us look forward to the film even more.
From The Guardian, “Surrealism, cafes and lots (and lots) of cats: why Japanese fiction is booming”. A comprehensive take on the recent uptick in Japanese literature being translated into English, starting with Murakami and Yoshimoto to the more recent successes of Muraka and Yuzuki. An incredibly interesting read.
From The Japan Times, “The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’”. Directed by Junichi Yasuda, A Samurai in Time is a time-travelling dramedy that pays tribute to the jidaigeki genre. Reviews on Rotten Tomatoes called it “heartwarming” with “solid performances” after the indie film was released at festivals around the world (including the Fantasia Film Festival, FrightFest, and Fantasmagoria). Make sure to check the article to learn more about its production and release!
Meanwhile, on The Blossom Review:
Last week, we reviewed Netflix’s latest attempt at a J-drama: Beyond Goodbye. You can read our review here or watch it here.
If you haven’t decided which J- or K-dramas to watch next month, despair not! Our complete calendar of releases (both J- and K-dramas) is coming out tomorrow so make sure to stop by The Blossom Review 😉
Stop by our YouTube channel this Thursday because we’ll be discussing literature this week! And with the release of the long-awaited The Trunk on Netflix, we’re reviewing Kim Ryeo-ryeong’s The Trunk: A Novel on The Blossom Review on Friday too! 😊
I hope you have a marvellous week ahead! And if you celebrate it, happy Thanksgiving! 🥧🍂 Take good care of yourself and I’ll see you very soon!
I never knew that Korea was so into their remakes as well! Good to know that they seem to handle them more astutely too (than we do over here).