Oscar-winning screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher has been tapped to write the screenplay for CJ Entertainment’s English-language remake of Derek Nguyen’s Vietnamese gothic horror pic The Housemaid, which IFC Midnight will be releasing on VOD platforms February 16, 2018. Deadline adds that Fletcher, whose screenplay for the Lee Daniels-directed Precious won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2010, will adapt Nguyen’s film, which was originally released in 2016 and was a big hit.

The story is set in 1953 Vietnam during the First Indochinese War, and follows an orphaned country girl who is hired to be a housemaid at a haunted French rubber plantation. She unexpectedly falls in love with the French landowner and awakens the vengeful ghost of his dead wife. Like the original, the remake will stick to the same concept, exploring racial and social themes. However, it will take place in the deep South during the Reconstruction Era.

“The opportunity to reimagine this compelling story in the context of American history is incredibly exciting,” said Fletcher. “Collaborating with CJ Entertainment and Motor, an international team of talents, is equally thrilling and this unique project speaks to the creative power of diverse voices. Derek Nguyen’s cinematic fable, produced by Timothy Bui, is perfect for Reconstruction Era reinvention, especially today.”

Nguyen said of the remake: “When writing the original script for The Housemaid, I became aware of the many parallels between the lives of Vietnamese indentured servants during the French colonial period and African American slaves in the American South. It’s an honor to have a celebrated screenwriter such as Geoffrey Fletcher shed light on the horrors of brutal injustice in a new version that will not only entertain but provoke thought.”

In The Housemaid, “A forbidden passion awakens vengeful spirits within a haunted mansion in this bloodcurdling, erotic tour-de-force. Vietnam, 1953: Linh (Nhung Kate), a poor, orphaned young woman, finds employment as a housemaid in a crumbling rubber plantation presided over by the emotionally fragile French officer Sebastien Laurent (Jean-Michel Richaud). Soon, a torrid love affair develops between the two – a taboo romance that rouses the ghost of Laurent’s dead wife, who won’t rest until blood flows. Submerged in moody Gothic atmosphere, this stylish supernatural saga confronts the dark shadows of Vietnam’s colonial past while delivering heart-stopping scares.”