Back in 2020, it was announced that a limited series based around Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” was now in the works at HBO. Make Ruffalo was originally attached to star. No word since then, but we have an update.
In a new interview with Deadline, Bong says the project is still in the works. “The writers are working very hard”, he shared, even adding that “the writing room of that show itself can be another TV show”, highlighting the immense effort going into its development.
Bong is teaming up with “The Big Short” and “Vice” director Adam McKay to co-executive produce the series. It’s supposed to be an English language remake of the Oscar-winning film, but with more subplots and characters.
Apparently, Warner Bros beat out a ton of competition to nab the rights for the “Parasite” TV series, including a heavily ammoed effort from Netflix who wound up losing the bidding war by a few million dollars.
The question that begs to be asked is quite simple; Did we really need this? Why does every successful original story need to be remade, rebooted or sequel-ized? Sometimes it's best to leave a great movie alone. The structure of “Parasite” does indeed play out like it could be expanded into series-length, but the film made its statement, let’s all move on.
It was actually Bong who had been shopping around the idea of a U.S. movie remake since the summer of 2019. What he finally got wasn’t a remake per se, but, rather, an episodic venture with a limited amount of episodes. It should be noted that Bong’s 2014 film “Snowpiercer” was also turned into TV series.
Bong hasn’t been shy in his professed love for U.S. television, in the past he’s namechecked David Fincher’s “Mindhunter” as a personal favorite, and even expressed interest in directing a few episodes of the Netflix series. No word yet on whether Bong would be directing the “Parasite” remake.