‘Parasite’ may get the TV treatment

After the success of his globally-acclaimed film “Snowpiercer,” director Bong Joon-ho’s latest film, the Palme d’Or-winning “Parasite,” is presumed to become his second flick to be dramatized in the United States.

Winning the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the film was sold to film distributors in 192 foreign countries, becoming the most exported Korean film ever.

With its piercing depiction of economic class division universally appealing to international cinephiles, “Parasite” has reportedly drawn proposals for being remade outside Korea.

Director Bong has hinted at the possibility himself, saying during a recent media interview, “I am getting questions from the U.S. for the dramatization of ‘Parasite.’

“It will be very interesting to turn it into a drama series where untold stories of each character can be further explored,” Bong said.

If made into a TV series, “Parasite” will become his second flick to be dramatized in the United States.

His previous film, “Snowpiercer,” based on a French graphic novel, is being dramatized in the Untied States and will hit the small screen on TBS next spring, a number of U.S. media reports have said.

The drama project began in 2015 but faced a major delay before TBS, not TNT as initially planned, was selected as its broadcaster.

The new series will star Jennifer Connelly, Daveed Diggs and Alison Wright, among others.

Experts predicted that “Parasite” is also likely to be reproduced given the global acclaim and fame it has widely garnered.

Meanwhile, “Parasite” has surpassed an accumulated 6.5 million admissions in South Korea and is on its way to topping the 7-million-milestone, data showed Sunday.

On Saturday alone, the tragicomedy drew 637,677 moviegoers to local movie theaters, dominating the box-office No. 1 position every day since its official release on May 30, according to the data from the Korean Film Council.

As of Saturday, accumulated admissions had reached 6.51 million, and the film is predicted to surely reach the 7-million-mark in the near future.

Yet as of early Sunday morning, the film came in second after the U.S. musical fantasy film “Aladdin” in terms of ticket reservations, with the U.S. flick accounting for 40.7 percent of all movie tickets reserved. “Parasite” represented 37.8 percent.

Despite the slowdown, “Parasite” seems to have enough room to retain its sales power in the local cinema market as many moviegoers opt for a second or third viewing of the metaphor-heavy film.

Written and directed by Bong Joon-ho, the family satire starring Song Kang-ho revolves around a poor family that becomes involved in a string of mishaps after the son gets a job as a tutor for a wealthy family residing in an opulent, gaudy mansion.

The film is the first Korean movie to ever take home the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize.

Yonhap