Remakes of Asian films about ectoplasm terrorizing the living were popular undertakings in Hollywood a few years ago (“The Ring,” “The Grudge,” “Pulse,” “The Eye,” “Dark Water”). But apparently, we are not done yet. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Adam Sandler and director Chris Columbus will be teaming up to remake the 2010 South Korean film “Hello Ghost.” People who are in for a good fright will be disappointed as this is the remake of a comedy that ended being the 9th highest grossing film at the South Korean box office in 2010.
Sandler will play a character who, after failing his suicide attempt, starts seeing four ghosts who won’t stop haunting him until he helps each one of them fulfill a wish. Columbus will helm the picture based on an adapted script written by Karen Croner (“Admission“).
Sandler and Columbus have never worked together before, but this could be a very good match. Both of them know how to craft relatively decent comedies. Sandler has literally created a comedic sub-genre for himself and despite some almost unwatchable movies that only die-hard fans are able to endure – “Jack and Jill,” “That’s My Boy” – he still knows how to make people laugh and is actually a really good actor (“Punch-Drunk Love” – sadly we probably won’t see him again in a movie that good). As for Columbus, before venturing into fantasy territory with the very pedestrian adaptation of the first two “Harry Potter” installments and the rather dull “Percy Jackson & the Olympians,” he helmed well-liked family flicks in the 90’s: the gag-filled “Home Alone” and its sequel and the cross-dressing comedy “Mrs. Doubtfire.”
Universal, who optioned the remake rights, is most likely scheduling this project for a 2014 release date. In the meantime, if you need your Adam Sandler movie fix, you will able to catch the actor in “Grown Ups 2,” a sequel to Sandler’s 2010 box office hit directed by his regular collaborator Dennis Dugan. And in case you’re curious, here’s the original “Hello Ghost” with English subtitles, in all its glory.