The creative kamikaze team of Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett haven’t even seen their new film The Guest hit theaters yet, and already they’re looking to their next big score. Dredd producer Adi Shankar announced via video blog Monday that his remake of the 2010’s South Korean film I Saw the Devil is closer to seeing the light of day. According to the video blog, Wingard and Barrett are approaching a deal to bring their directing/writing talents to the remake of the acclaimed serial killer vs. cop tale.
For those of you who haven’t seen the 2010 Kim Jee-Woon orignal, I Saw the Devil pits Korean superstars Lee Byung-Hun (A Bittersweet Life, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) against Oldboy himself, Choi Min-Sik, as a cop on the trail of a serial killer, with both characters upping the ante for balls-out brutality against one another and the public.
According to The Wrap, Devil will be produced by Snoot Entertainment, with whom Wingard and Barrett have worked before on the studio’s films You’re Next, V/H/S, and V/H/S/2. The duo has an innate ability to weave dark humor into their film’s heavier moments, which the original Devil has in spades. What gives me the best peace of mind that the creative pairing will be able to pull off Devil is their turn in 2012’s The ABCs of Death and their “Q” entry. For no other reason, I’m sold on this selection to take the reins of the beloved original.
On a side note, I will say this: As Shankar notes in the video below, there’s been a lot of ‘net-chatter deriding the very idea of anyone touching the original and daring to produce a remake. It’s almost sacrilege in their eyes. I even found myself wondering if such a reimagining could work and almost fell down that naysaying trap of protest.
I’ve mellowed a bit in my old age, however, and realize that, ultimately, the film will be what it’ll be. If it’s wonderful and causes the sick to be healed and the dead the rise, all the better. If it’s largely panned, the world will keep spinning and we’ll still have the original Devil to marvel at whenever we want. It’s the same way I approached the announcement that Ben Affleck was to play the Dark Knight in Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice. If he’s great and brings a unique spin to the Caped Crusader, wonderful. If not, I still have my Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy to view again and again. So, let’s all breathe and give the Devil its due, okay? (PUNS.)
In the meantime, catch Wingard and Barrett’s work in The Guest, premiering in theaters tomorrow and be sure to check out our review of the film. And you can see the original I Saw the Devil on Netflix.
[Source: The Wrap]