Why Hollywood Versions of Korean Movies Suck
October 31st, 2008 · Entertainment · 20 comments
Last week on Naver this article, on the subject of Hollywood remakes of Korean films, was one of the most-viewed.
Scenes from both versions of "My Sassy Girl", "The Lake House", and for no reason at all, "24".
“My Sassy Girl”, the Hollywood remake of “엽기적인 그녀”, will land in Korea on the 30th.
“My Sassy Girl” went straight to DVD in the United States but will open in theaters here. So it might be expected to be as popular here as the original film was.
But “My Sassy Girl”, as revealed at a press conference, fails to capture the charm of the original film and has to be evaluated as just another Hollywood romantic comedy.
We are now in a situation where the news that Hollywood plans to remake a Korean film has become expected rather than surprising. Korean films are attractive in that they have different kinds of stories from the usual Hollywood fare.
But from “The Lake House” (“시월애”) to “Mirror” (“거울속으로”) to “My Sassy Girl”, many domestic fans have found it difficult to like the Hollywood remakes.
To ask why Hollywood remakes fail to live up to the standards of the originals is to ask how closely tailored Korean movies are to Korean audiences.
The first remake, “The Lake House,” generated considerable hype because of its pairing of the American stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, who starred together in “Speed”. The remake was faithful to the original’s theme of a love able to transcend time and space, and opened at fourth place in the box office ranking.
But despite the star performances it grossed a disappointing $52 million overseas. In Korea it was a box office disaster. The domestic media called it a retread and gave it low marks.
“Mirror” opened in seventh place at the U.S. box office and put in an ok showing for a horror movie. Disappointed fans in Korea produced tepid grosses, though it did alright in the United States.
There is little difference between this and the situation in Hollywood after the success of “Mirror”, “The Ring” and so on that led to a boom in Hollywood remakes of Japanese and Thai horror films. This is because horror movies are an established genre in America and new elements were mixed in judiciously.
“The Lake House”, “Mirror”, and “My Sassy Girl” are remakes that fit into clear genres. These were the first Hollywood remakes of Korean films and experienced clear genre success to the degree that the originals fit into simple genres.
Moreover, in the early days when remake rights were sold to Hollywood, they were sold at low prices and without rights to participate in the remake’s production. The primary reason for this is that in the process of changing Korean sentiments into American sentiments the original work loses its artistic merits.
Hollywood is aware of the seriousness of these problems.
The American movie magazine Variety reported on the 22nd that Hollywood is taking a new approach to Asian movie remakes. According to the report, Hollywood studios have purchased the rights to many Asian films but has written few new scripts or begun new productions. Compared to the past there is now a lull in new intellectual property purchases.
Whether purchasing those rights or investing in a remake, costs are similar and prospective profits are low, so the problem is that the film may do poorly in Asia.
Because of this Hollywood is considering purchasing the remake rights to Asian films and then producing them in the local language. Zak Kadison, formerly of “My Sassy Girl” studio Gold Circle and currently head of Fox Atomic, said, “Hollywood studios are going to be doing remakes in local languages.”
Fox Star Studio, the union of 20th Century Fox’s Asian division and Fox International, is an example of this.
On the other hand, in the current atmosphere there is a need for Korean films to take a strategic approach to Hollywood.
A representative of ShinChine, the company which founded “엽기적인 그녀” producer Robot Taekwon V, announced, “in the past we were grateful to be able to sell the remake rights, but now we are putting together our own international strategy.”
This is not related to the current trend that when a contract for the sale of remake rights to Hollywood is concluded there is negotiation over distribution profits. CJ Entertainment is also preparing an international strategy to participate in the production of Hollywood remakes of its films.
The original Variety article on which this piece relied can be read here. (Frankly it seems the author of the Korean piece didn’t fully understand it.) There might already be some dividends from Hollywood’s new strategy as South Korea will soon give the world Beverly Hills Ninja 2. Pay dirt!
20 comments
I’m sorry, the representative of ShinChine is named Robot Taekwon V?
F**k my current job, how AWESOME must it be to work with that guy?
dino · October 31st, 2008 at 8:46 AM
Actually Robot Taekwon V is a company. But it is pretty much the best company name in the world.
Korea Beat · October 31st, 2008 at 9:09 AM
Terrible journalism aside…Remakes are rubbbish. Hollywood remakes of Asian movies are rubbish. Asian remakes of Hollywood movies are rubbish. Remakes of old movies are rubbish. Yeesh, they even remake remakes and they’re doubley rubbish (I Am Legend spring to mind). I die a little bit inside everytime I hear that a great old movie or book I love is due to get the Will Smith treatment.
I can’t think of a single remake that’s ever surpassed the original. Some are good – Vanilla Skies, Solaris – but don’t do anything new, except introduce the story to a new (cash paying) audience.
huh? · October 31st, 2008 at 9:53 AM
Ocean’s 11.
Personally I think the main reason that so many remakes are disappointing is precisely the attitude that audiences have towards them. There’s no expectation that they stay true to the source material, and so they aren’t, and so they’re disappointing.
I bet remakes would tend to turn out a lot differently if movie audiences were more like theater audiences — people are happy to see different productions of Hamlet throughout their lives and see different takes on the story and characters. Every year there are dozens of new productions of Shakespeare, yet let someone propose a Casablanca remake and everyone is up in arms. It’s puzzling.
Korea Beat · October 31st, 2008 at 10:05 AM
Wasn’t Heat a remake? I loved that movie.
Ian · October 31st, 2008 at 10:43 AM
There’s no reason why remakes should suck. Most people are cynical and see remakes as an excercise in making cash (and no doubt, many of them are) but a good remake should be like a good cover of an old song – more a loving tribute than a grab-for-cash. I never saw the original, but thoroughly enjoyed the remake of “3:10 to Yuma”.
And while we’re on the subject of westerns, I thought that Kim Jee-woon’s recent take on Leone’s “The good, the bad and the ugly” (being “The good, the bad and the weird”) was a lot of fun. And let’s not forget that Leone himself started his career by remaking Kurosawa’s “Yojimbo”. It’s a delicate art, that’s for sure.
Oh, and I thought the original ‘My Sassy Girl’ was pretty fun for the most part (except for a few scenes that seemed awkward and out of place) but this remake looks like pure faeces. Even the trailer made me want to walk out.
baekgom84 · October 31st, 2008 at 4:24 PM
The biggest sense I get from this article is “AMERICA VALUES OUR MOVIES ENOUGH TO REMAKE THEM!’ Similar vibes to when a person of Korean origin pops up in US media (Lost) or sport (Michelle Wie): wow, Korea is having a cultural impact outside of Korea!
Or when a foreigner is pictured in the Chosun Ilbo enjoying some delicious Korean food. “THEY LIKE OUR FOOD TOO!”
I come from Scotland, we do exactly the same there…
Scotty · October 31st, 2008 at 7:25 PM
I actually liked the American versions of Lake House and Into the Mirror better than the Korean ones… I hated Sassy Girl, so I don’t plan to see any Hollywood remakes of that one.
Heather · November 1st, 2008 at 1:22 AM
Heat, 3:10 to yuma, ocean’s 11 are all certainly good movies. I don’t know the originals but will try to look them up some time. They’re also really the exception to the rule… I usually prefer the originals even if I see them after the remakes, and its really not just being cynical or elitist. Remakes, for the most part take an existing but currently unpopular (or unprofitable) movie, and reproduce it for a larger audience. In doing this, whatever gave the original piece both its value and mainstream commercial unavailabity – be it non-English medium, low budget, controversal themes or messages non-cgi effects in old film, ambigous endings, no Will Smith saving the world from doom – is watered down and lost to hit the largest target audience. It’s a shame. Movies like Reservoir dogs and A fistful of Dollars, which homage, reinterpret, and add more to the originals are rare indeed.
huh? · November 3rd, 2008 at 11:12 AM
I certainly think you’re right. But I also think the main reason remakes get made so poorly as they often do has to with what studios believe audience expectations are. Theaters can put on new productions of Shakespeare or Tennessee Williams, etc., using the same scripts because that’s what audiences expect. But with the exception of Psycho, that has never been tried in film.
Korea Beat · November 3rd, 2008 at 11:19 AM
Your article is very interesting and informative of the current trends in both the United States and South Korea regarding Hollywood remakes. I especially like the title of your article, not only because of its apparent humor, but because it has proven true on many occasions, as you allude to in your article. Having grown up in the United States, the first time I came across the film My Sassy Girl, the film was uninteresting and easily forgettable. I constantly questioned why it was so popular when it first came out. The answer finally came as I watched the film for the second time in a class I was taking concerning Korean history. In the context of Korean history and culture, the film grew infinitely relevant and insightful, and I enjoyed it immensely this time around. The film introduces the new, modern Korean heroine, far from the reserved, passive traditional Korean female of Korea’s past, and the reversal of traditional gender roles serves as the ironic foundation for the film’s comedy, romance, and drama. As you say, the remake “fails to capture the charm of the original,” since here in America, it is nothing else than “another Hollywood romantic comedy.” Though My Sassy Girl did poorly, Asian horror films that are remade tend to do fairly well at the American box office. What is it about the horror genre that appeals to American audiences more than other genres? And what do you think it is about Asian horror films in particular that appeal to American audiences? It seems that Hollywood remakes Asian films in order to erase the Asian cultural differences and reconstruct a film that is more American. But my making a film more American, are these films losing the uniqueness and originality that had defined the originals? Or will the cultural aspects of the originals inevitably turn off American audiences? What do you think American audiences are more quick to embrace, original Asian films or remade Hollywood films?
Gloria park · November 4th, 2008 at 7:07 PM
Some remakes are really good like Reservoir Dogs and The Departed.
I also enjoyed Lake House and Mirror.
Perhaps Koreans should be more open-minded and appreciate the remakes and look at the movie from a western point of view.
I know that sometimes a remake of an Asian romance loses a bit of the innocence but Koreans immediately dismis is crap before even seeing it.
tracy · November 5th, 2008 at 1:47 AM
@12
I don’t think Koreans in particular (or anyone on this post for the matter) are immediately dismissing anything w/o seeing it (or did I just miss that in the article?). The general consensus among commenters and the article seems to be that it is HOW Hollywood approaches Asian (not just Korean) movies that is a problem.
I mean, the article notes that yes, Korean audiences may not flock to see Hollywood remakes but I think that’s the result of “first view” bias (where the first version YOU see automatically becomes the standard you use to compare all other remakes) that EVERYONE is susceptible too. Also, these remakes aren’t becoming huge hits in America either, which I think indicates something about the inherent quality of the remakes themsevles rather than how KOREANS are reacting to the remake.
I guess I just really don’t see how the assumption that Koreans ought “be more open-minded and appreciate the remakes” can be made from this article; if the remake was good, I really think Americans and Koreans alike would enjoy it. I honestly believe if Hollywood actually made a remake on par with The Departed/3:10Yuma etc, both Hollywood AND most Koreans would be justifiably proud. Everyone wins with a good remake – the point is that they are SO RARE.
And in this case, I don’t think a Korean movie has yet been remade properly – hence the growing belief Hollywood completely missing the heart and soul of the Korean movies they are trying to remake.
s · November 6th, 2008 at 5:48 PM
[...] made, then, this may become example #1 of sucky Hollywood remakes of Korean movies. This was written by Korea Beat. Posted on Tuesday, November 11, 2008, at 12:59 pm. Filed under . [...]
Korea Beat › American Netizens: “Oldboy” Remake Will Suck · November 11th, 2008 at 12:59 PM
We want to show the Korean versions of these films on our campus:
My Sassy Girl
Tazza: High Rollers
Old Boy
Can anyone tell us who the American distributor is for these films? Please help if you can. Thanks!
Jenny · December 4th, 2008 at 12:48 AM
Try these pages.
http://www.variety.com/profiles/Film/main/169224/Old%20Boy.html?dataSet=1
Korea Beat · December 4th, 2008 at 1:04 AM
[...] It’s now known as “The Uninvited” and to judge by the AV Club’s review — which I always do — audiences are better off sticking with the original. Sweet poster, though still not as good as the original. Anyway, another example of sucky Hollywood remakes of Korean films. [...]
Korea Beat › “A Tale of Two Sisters” Remake Lands in US Theaters · January 31st, 2009 at 2:47 PM
I have to disagree with a lot of the posters in this thread: There are plenty of good remakes, many of which have become classics. I agree with Korea Beat that the problem lies in the movie viewing audience: Movie watchers apparently love to hate remakes.
Case in point, the American remake of “My Sassy Girl” is actually pretty good. Its a quirky romantic comedy which I’ve watched before watching the original. Because of this, I feel that as a movie, it works quite well.
Conversely, BOTH versions of Il Mare/The Lake House are inherently flawed, so both versions are, in fact, average films.
Here’s a list of remakes that are actually pretty good, if not better than the originals:
• The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) [Most underrated Hitchcock film ever]
• Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
• Scarface (1983)
• Cape Fear (1991)
• The Ring (2002) [Yes, I think this version is better than the original]
• Desperado (1995) [Half remake/Half sequel]
• The Departed (2006) [However, both versions are EXCELLENT]
• The Italian Job (2003)
• Tombstone (1993)
• Payback (1999)
• Les Rivieres Pourpres (2000)
• Solaris (2002)
• And arguably The Magnificent Seven (1960) [which I don't feel was a very good movie but many, many Americans would disagree with me]
This Is Me Posting · February 18th, 2009 at 1:50 AM
[...] If made, then, this may become example #1 of sucky Hollywood remakes of Korean movies. [...]
American Netizens: “Oldboy” Remake Will Suck | KoreaBeat · March 10th, 2013 at 7:39 PM
[...] It’s now known as “The Uninvited” and to judge by the AV Club’s review — which I always do — audiences are better off sticking with the original. Sweet poster, though still not as good as the original. Anyway, another example of sucky Hollywood remakes of Korean films. [...]
Korea Beat » Blog Archive » “A Tale of Two Sisters” Remake Lands in US Theaters · March 30th, 2013 at 4:13 PM