Movies
Zombies on a ‘Train to Busan’…and Then the U.S.
Gaumont has picked up U.S. remake rights of Train to Busan (read our review), one of the biggest South Korean box-office hits of all time, writes THR.
Critically acclaimed animator Yeon Sang-ho made his live-action directorial debut with Train to Busan. The thriller chronicles the chaos that ensues after a deadly virus sweeps through Korea and passengers must fight for their survival aboard a bullet train from Seoul to the southern port city of Busan, which is ensconced from the outbreak.
“We’ve been chasing this remake since the Cannes Film Festival where the whole team loved it so much, and we are excited to start working on the U.S. adaptation that will mark our foray into English language movies in Los Angeles,” said Gaumont CEO Sidonie Dumas in a statement.
The zombie actioner produced by RedPeter Film and released by Next Entertainment World grossed over $83.5 million at home this summer, after premiering at Cannes. The film reached 11.6 million admissions, which accounts for over a fifth of the South Korean population. Train to Busan was sold to over 150 territories and was a huge success in Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam, among other countries.
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallis.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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