Before Parasite, Korea unearthed some of the best crime/action thriller around like The Man from Nowhere. With Hollywood’s obsession to remake everything we’re surprised it’s taken them so long. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting the 2010 actioner is getting a Hollywood remake from the team behind John Wick!
John Wick director Chad Stahelski is reuniting with that action franchise’s writer, Derek Kolstad, to create a English language version.
This isn’t the first time they have tried to make this film. A way back in 2011 news broke that Dimension Films attempted to create the film with The Weinsteins. This time New Line Cinema will attempt to bring this one to the big screen. With the success of the John Wick films proves there is a market for action based crime thrillers.
This film was the top box office in South Korea in 2010, holding the spot for five weeks. It was also the highest grossing film in Korea too.
The full premise is below but the basic premise is of a pawnshop owner with a ‘violent past’. Who is forced to take on a drug organ trafficking gang who kidnapped a young girl who just became his only friend.
There is a big John Wick vibe in this one along with a Leon The Professional twist. Stahelski-Kolstad partnership have shown they know how to make this genre a money spinner. The big question is who will they pick as the lead actor? Will it still be based in Korea or another part of Asia? If it is , will they pick a Asian actor? If not what direction and face are they looking for this one?
Hollywood remakes of Asian films have not been great, Spike Lee’s Oldboy the perfect example. With Parasite, I Saw The Devil 2 films expected remakes, which we’re intrigued to see we’re also nervous how this one might end up like…
Related:DVD Review: The Man From Nowhere
Tae-shik is an ex-special agent whose tragic past has made him distance himself from the world. He now lives in solitude and runs a small pawnshop. The only people he now sees are the few pawnshop customers and So-mi, the young girl who lives next door. So-mi has also been neglected by the world and as she and Tae-shik begin to spend more time together, the two gradually open themselves to one another and become friends. Then one day, So-mi suddenly disappears. So-mi’s mother becomes involved in a major crime causing both her and So-mi to get kidnapped. Tae-shik is drawn back out into the world in a frantic search for So-mi’s whereabouts. In order to save So-mi, his one and only friend in this world, Tae-shik makes a certain arrangement with the crime mob. While So-mi is still nowhere to be found, the police begin to chase after Tae-shik. With the police and the underground mob close on his tail, Tae-shik continues his frantic search for So-mi and his hidden past slowly becomes revealed…
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
