2013 sees the release of debut English language features from Korean directors Park Chan Wook and Kim Jee Woon. Since there is also a remake of Park’s OLDBOY on the way it only seems fair that we also get a remake of one of Kim’s films too. That film will be A BITTERSWEET LIFE, and one half of The Hughes Brothers, Allen Hughes, is set to direct. The original saw a hotel manager/mob henchman named Sunwoo given the task of killing the girlfriend of his boss. However, when push comes to shove he is unable to do so, which results in a number a very angry mob boss sending out people to kill Sunwoo. Fox and New Regency are behind the project, with a new draft of the script being written by Anthony Peckham.
This will be Allen Hughes’ second solo project without his brother after the upcoming BROKEN CITY, starring Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe. Funnily enough, BROKEN CITY will be released on the same day as THE LAST STAND, the next film from Kim Jee Woon, the director of the original A BITTERSWEET LIFE.
The original A BITTERSWEET LIFE is another example of amazing Korean cinema from the past decade and mixes dark humour with shocking violence and memorable action sequences, not forgetting an emotional undercurrent. Will Hughes be able to do justice to the film? I think it’s certainly possible, and the change of locale from South Korea to North America should give us a brand new look at the story.
Source: Collider
