Advertisement
Asian cinema: Korean films
K-PopK-movies

Backlash to Train to Busan’s Hollywood remake from fans of the Korean zombie hit, despite the involvement of horror-film veterans James Wan and Gary Dauberman

  • Fans are not pleased that the Korean hit is being remade by Hollywood, claiming it will be ruined
  • The remake’s Indonesian director, Timo Tjahjanto, says the movie will keep the heart of the original, but have a ‘different flavour’

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Ma Dong-seok (front) and Gong Yoo in a still from Train to Busan (2016). The Korean zombie apocalypse hit will be remade by Hollywood, and fans of the original aren’t happy.
Marco Ferrarese

It’s not news that the Korean zombie apocalypse hit Train to Busan (2016) by director Yeon Sang-ho will soon have an American remake by Hollywood’s New Line Cinema.

Advertisement

It was announced in February, but fans only took to the internet to express their concern online last weekend when the news went viral – and sparked a lot of negative reactions.

The backlash seems to have started when Singaporean entertainment news portal GameSpot reposted on Twitter an earlier article dated February 19 announcing Train to Busan’s American remake.

Since being posted on August 28, it was retweeted 2,987 times and quoted more than 38,200 times.

Twitter users’ responses ranged from “NO. Stop this immediately. Its [sic] perfect and does not need a remake” as posted by user @Brujj, to “America constantly ruin [sic] foreign films when they remake them,” as posted by user @rikijamie.

Advertisement
The main criticism and concerns raised by fans hinted at why making an English-language version of such a recent international hit when it can be enjoyed with subtitles, or specifically dubbed into English for the United States market, especially given it already has an animated prequel, Seoul Station (2016), and a sequel, Peninsula (2020).
Advertisement