Bong Joon-ho recently confirmed that following his already-shot animated film about sea creatures — potentially titled “The Valley” — he plans to direct a horror action film set in an underground Seoul subway station. Bong’s horror movie will now have a score composed by John Carpenter.
Last night, speaking at a 4K restoration screening of “The Thing,” Bong conducted the post-screening Q&A and asked Carpenter if he would be interested in making music for his horror film.
Bong detailed the plan for his “next, next movie”, and before he could even officially ask the question, Carpenter eagerly replied, “I wanna do your score.” The pair locked the deal with a handshake as Bong assured the audience this was “officially” and “seriously” happening.
Details of Bong's horror film remain under lock and key. The filmmaker has described it as the “life project” he's been thinking about since 2001. Back in 2020, Bong briefly mentioned the project, which he described as a “Korean film, set in Seoul, with unique elements of horror and action,” but on a similar scale as 2006’s “The Host.”
Bong’s style is known to mix genres, but his only “horror” film to date remains “The Host,” which starred Song Kang-ho and dealt with a mutated beast, emerging from the Han River, that ends up terrorizing the citizens of Seoul.
In the meantime, Bong’s new film, “Mickey 17,” a sci-fi film starring Robert Pattinson, is hitting VOD on Tuesday. The film has had a bumpy ride at the box office and was not as critically acclaimed as his past works, especially his Korean efforts.
Carpenter's recognizable, and synth-heavy, music has provided the soundtrack for such films as “Halloween,” “Escape From New York” and “The Fog.” It should be noted that Carpenter composed the score for A24’s “Death of A Unicorn,” but was recently replaced by musical duo Dan Romer and Giosuè Greco.