Bong Joon-ho’s acclaimed film (and Oscar hopeful) Parasite is becoming an HBO limited series, with Bong producing alongside Adam McKay. Bong co-wrote and directed the original Korean movie, which follows the four members of the poor Kim family as they scheme to find employment with the affluent, but naive, Park household by passing themselves off as a variety of highly qualified individuals (like a longtime english tutor and art therapist).
Celebrated for its twisty plot and masterful craftsmanship (all of which are in service of the film’s damning critique of capitalism and its failings), Parasite has become the most widely-acclaimed title of Bong’s career, which is saying something considering his previous movies include The Host and Snowpiercer. The film is also a box office success (it sits at $130 million worldwide, against a budget of $11 million) and is expected to land multiple Oscar nods next week, following its Best Foreign Language Film victory at the Golden Globes Sunday. Now, in a turn nearly as shocking as those in the actual movie, Parasite is becoming a TV show.
THR reports Bong and McKay are in talks to executive produce an english-language Parasite limited series for HBO. It’s unclear at the moment whether this will be a re-imagining of the movie, a followup, or an expansion of the film’s setting. Equally unclear is Bong’s involvement, as he’s only confirmed to be producing and overseeing the TV show’s development with McKay right now.
This is the second time in recent memory one of Bong’s films has led to a series, following the Snowpiercer TV show (which will premiere on TNT later this year). Things are a little different in this case, however, as Parasite is an original property created by Bong and his co-writer Han Jin-won, whereas Snowpiercer originated as a comic book. McKay’s involvement is also a wild card factor here. The Anchorman and Step Brothers filmmaker has shifted away from his early satirical comedies in order to make true story projects like The Big Short (which he landed an Oscar for co-writing) and the Dick Cheney biopic Vice in recent years. But for all the acclaim he earned for those movies, a number of critics took them to task for being condescending in how they approach their controversial subject matter.
Really, when push comes to shove, it’s easy to imagine a Parasite limited series going either way. It could follow in Fargo’s footsteps and become a fascinating expansion of the original movie’s universe (one that builds upon its themes in its own unique style), or just as readily prove to be a misguided attempt to appeal to the english-speaking viewers who would’ve never watched Bong’s original film (the very people Bong called out in his Globes acceptance speech, ironically). That said, McKay and HBO have a good track record following their collaboration on the award-winning TV series Succession, and Parasite’s concerns about capitalism are so universal they should translate over smoothly to an Americanized retelling, should that prove to be the plan. For now, Bong’s involvement is encouragement enough, if only because he knows how to protect his work from intrusive producers.
More on the Parasite TV series as the story develops.
Source: THR
