A 2000s Alien Movie Is Set for Remake

The 2003 Korean horror movie Save the Green Planet is getting a remake, but this time with an English-speaking cast. This project was first announced in May 2020, but new reports over the last two months confirm that it is still in the works and is moving forward. It’s unclear how far along it is and even who is working on the project, but the latest rumors say that Emma Stone will star.

Save the Green Planet is a cult classic, though its horrifying content and graphic violence may have precluded it from true mainstream success. It was written and directed by Jang Joon-hwan and starred Shin Ha-kyun as Lee Byeong-gu, a man who believes in an impending extra-terrestrial invasion. He kidnaps pharmaceutical executive Kang Man-shik (Baek Yoon-sik), believing that he is an alien in disguise who could contact the approaching ship and call off the attack. Over the course of the film, Byeong-gu tortures the executive and the audience is shown glimpses into Byeong-gu’s psyche and his violent past. However, as unlikely as it seems, the audience is led to wonder whether Byeong-gu is actually right at the same time.

In May 2020, the Korean movie studio CJ Entertainment and the American production company Square Peg announced a collaboration. The original announcement said that Jang himself would return to direct this English-language remake of his film, while screenwriter Will Tracy – known in the horror space for The Menu – would adapt the script into English. Korean director Bong Joon-ho and American director Ari Aster were supposed to produce for CJ and Square Peg, respectively.

More recent reports indicate that Jang is no longer going to direct. In November, World of Reel reported that Poor Things director Yorgos Lanthimos would direct the remake of Save the Green Planet, with his frequent collaborator Stone in the starring role. That story hasn’t been confirmed yet, although it was backed up last when Dazed did a joint interview with Lanthimos and Stone.

“There are a number of projects I’m looking at, and [Save the Green Planet] is one of those,” Lanthimos said when asked about this story. Stone didn’t comment on the rumor at all, so it’s hard to say if she is involved as well. The two of them first collaborated in 2019 with The Favorite, and have since made a short film called Bleat and two features – Kinds of Kindness and Poor Things.

There’s no telling if or when this English-language remake of Save the Green Planet may come to fruition, but it doesn’t sound like it’s very far along at the time of this writing. As for the 2003 original, it is not the easiest to stream in the U.S. It is available through Kanopy – an app that offers many titles for free if you have a valid public library card, depending on your location and your library’s affiliations. Otherwise, your best bet seems to be ordering the movie on DVD or Blu-ray.