South-Korean auteur Park Chan-Wook’s absurdist vampire romance film, “Thirst” came out earlier this summer, but didn’t exactly light-up the indie box-office circuit like most assumed. It made $318,574 domestically ($12 million worldwide), but those aren’t terrible U.S. numbers. Chan-Wook’s biggest U.S. film, “Oldboy” grossed some $700,000 domestically. Maybe it was those mixed Cannes reviews? Or perhaps it was because his last fillm, “I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK,” didn’t even receive U.S. distribution so that might have dulled his buzz as a rising international star somewhat.
Whatever the case, is the director already eyeing his next project?
According to Twitchfilm, Chan-Wook might next tackle a remake of Greek born French filmmaker Costa-Gavras’ 2005 film “Le Couperet (The Ax).” Best known for directing the 1969 political thriller, “Z” and the Chilean, post-Pincochet drama, “Missing,” in the 1980s, Gavras’ original is an adaptation of the novel The Ax by Donald E. Westlake and follows a downsized chemist who loses his job to outsourcing. Two years later and still jobless, he hits on a solution: to genuinely eliminate his competition. His methods? You can surely guess and they’re not pretty. Sounds like a pretty topical and relevant film idea.
Meanwhile, “Thirst” was around two and a half hours (or at least felt that long), but apparently the director is preparing an even longer cut. Sheesh, not a great idea, exorbitant length was part of the original problem Other projects in the works include, “Transperceneige,” a sci-fi blockbuster with shades of Noah’s Ark tones, that he will produce for director and fellow countryman, Bong Joon-Ho (“The Host,” “Mother”). Both projects sound awesome.
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2008. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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