The adaptation will explore unanswered and ‘hidden stories’ from the original film
Earlier this month, Bong Joon Ho announced that his Palme d'Or-winning film Parasite would be adapted into an English-language limited series on HBO. Now, the South Korean director has revealed more details, including that it’ll take the format of a six-hour film.
“All these key ideas accumulated from when I started writing the script,” Bong told The Wrap. “I just couldn’t include all those ideas in the two-hour running time of the film, so they’re all stored in my iPad and my goal with this limited series is to create a six-hour-long film.”
“For example when the original housekeeper Mun Gwang (Lee Jung Eun) comes back in the late-night, something happened to her face. Even her husband asked about it but she never answered,” Bong explained. “I know why she had the bruises on her face. I have a story for that and aside from that why does she know the existence of this bunker?”
He added: “What relationship does she have with that architect to know of this bunker? So I have all these hidden stories that I have stored.”
The Okja director is teaming up with Adam McKay whose celebrated films The Big Short and Vice have earned him multiple award nominations, and whose HBO series Succession has just won the Golden Globe for best drama series.
Parasite is a social satire based around class, involving a working class family scamming themselves into a rich family to fund their existence. It’s the first Korean film to receive six nominations from the Academy Awards.
It continues to branch into exciting ventures, including a unique black and white screening experience across US cinemas.