Phone is a good movie...let's hope the Hollywood version is as good.

Horror movie. No wonder I never watched it. So how many Korean movies that have been already been remake by American movies?

again? . . .
why do they have to remake a good movie and butcher it..
well i hope they don't . . .
but they should just do an original rather than remaking something.. and then not credit the original..
i've seen so many remake movies from hollywood.. without proper credits to where they got the storyline...
maybe they should get ha ji won to star in the remake..lol....

at least they are keeping the same director. It might be hopeful since all the other remakes were directed by others and not the original.

Haven't seen the movie yet, so I won't say anything about it. But, it really is a good thing that they'll keep the same director so it might be good. As for the production company, I'm not familiar with their works, as I have never seen the Twilight series (and I still can't understand all the hype on it).

#4 Jean, I think The Lake House movie credited Il Mare at the opening credits of the movie. The Ring credited Ring(Japan) too, as far as I can remember. Hmm. Do you know any movies that Hollywood made a remake but did not credit the original one?

Idk. At least they kept the director and whatnot. but i havent seen it personally..hehe. Imma scaredy cat though! ha! Hopefully all goes well.

I guess this wouldn't turn out that bad as they will be retaining the same director..?

I like the original just as it is.

BUT ... if they have to do a Hollywood remake, at least they're keeping Director Ahn and filming in Korea with a Korean staff. Maybe some of the magic of Asian horror films will rub off into this remake.

Kinda hesitant about Director Ahn mentioning that he's got enough funding to do what he originally wanted to do, though. I hope he doesn't go overboard.

@Jean

In the 2009 Hollywood-made film "The Uninvited", credit was given to the Korean version it was based on. In fact, credit was given to "Changhwa Hongryon" ... not "A Tale of Two Sisters".

Hollywood remakes are usually dumbed down to make things more palatable for American audiences (eg. Uninvited, Shutter) and consequently screwing the whole movie over, but by retaining the original Korean director and shooting in Korea with a Koren crew, maybe....just maybe they this one might be one of the rare remakes that's as good, if not better than the original. Only problem is that Hollywood won't find a young actress that's as good as the little girl in Phone. I'm still haunted by her performance even though I saw this 4 years ago.

@luraaa

I saw Twilight the movie and it was horrible - the worst movie I've ever seen. I can see how Twilight readers and fans (I'm not one of them) might have liked it, but as a movie, it's pretty bad. As for the books, I've never read those either (so I'm not biased by Edwardism!) but my Twilight-obsessed friend showed me a few chapters, which are engaging but lackluster from a literary standpoint. So you're right in assuming that it's not worth the hype. I hope that Imprint Entertainment will do a better job with this remake, because from what I hear, New Moon is all eye-candy and no content.

I'm thinking, that if they are retaining the director and crew from the original, at LEAST, we will have the spirit of the original.

Yes, things will probably be a different in the US version to make it more "marketable" for our tastes.

But I have hope that it'll be a lot better than the other korean/asian horror remakes out there.

Hmmm Western remakes of Asian horror movies mostly almost seem like comedies in front of their original counterparts.On the other hand it sorta works in a positive way because it introduces people to the Asian horror genre by making them curious about the original movie.( The Ring,The Grudge etc)

Well in terms of remakes, I liked the Ring much more than Ringu (Verbinsky did a nice impression of Fincher) and the Departed much, much more than Infernal Affairs. Note that both Ring 2 and Grudge 2 were done by the original Japanese directors, and both well sucked.

@bern,

"and i’m not just talking in terms of writing and acting. i mean scoring, editing, directing… everything."

Hmm, gotta disagree with that. There's this one sequence in New Moon where the werewolves chase after the female vampire, and it's mostly done in slow motion behind Thom Yorke's song "Head Damage." That was a beautifully directed and scored sequence.

New Moon's direction was actually pretty good (wolfy CGI not so hot.) Very professional, some nice touches borrowed from Twin Peaks, some of that flat "side-shooter" style from 300, but it never turns into a CGI action movie. Weinz already had a go with Golden Compass, and you can kinda see some of the palette at work.

As for the script and acting . . . heh heh, yeah. :D

It really comes through with Twilight that it's a Catherine Hardwicke (White Oleander) movie. She went away from the obvious route -- which is the emo-goth thing -- and tried to make it just an emo thing.

I cringed when I saw "Korean Remake" but now am excited! Original Director + Korean Locale + Korean Crew + $10 millions = Blockbuster(?) Or at least I hope the Hollywood producers won't mess with the Creative Geniuses At Work, which is highly unlikely, unless you're Spielberg.

i just put this in my netflix list.

Is this the movie that a phone can kill people? Haha
I remember they make fun about it in Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Phone was a pretty decent movie. I hope they don't screw it up. At least they're keeping the director. I hope the American cast does a good job.

i hope hollywood version its must be better rather than korea version...

I really liked Phone. I hope the remake will be just as good.

"Note that both Ring 2 and Grudge 2 were done by the original Japanese directors, and both well sucked. "

Both of them did indeed suck, but so did the Japanese sequels to those movies. It's just a case of sequels sucking in general, rather than who was directing.

Speaking of remakes, I'm still waiting with baited breath for the Hollywood do-over of Oldboy. Last I heard, Spielberg will be at the helm and Will Smith as either the main or supporting man. I just can't take Will seriously and I know he has improved a lot with roles in Seven Days and I am Legend, but his character in Prince of Bel Air is still...um, Fresh on my mind (pun clearly intended).

Gah... I remember this movie.

I consider this movie one of my favorite horror films, and I greatly respect it and the people behind making this movie. I really hope that Hollywood does not end up making a mess out of the remake of this movie. Even though it sounds kind of creepy, this movie is the reason why I had started listening to classical music, and it is also because of this movie that the "Moonlight Sonata" came to be one of my favorite pieces. Also, this was one of the very first Korean movies that I saw back when I was still in high school together with A Tale of Two Sisters. I would even consider this movie an unforgettable one because of how it impacted my life at that time. Getting dramatic here, but it's true. In my opinion, this is such a (creepy) good and memorable movie. So, I'm hoping (wishing) with all of my heart that Hollywood does not ruin this movie for those people who have not seen the original version yet.

@Kobe,

"Both of them did indeed suck, but so did the Japanese sequels to those movies. It’s just a case of sequels sucking in general, rather than who was directing."

Nah, it's because when the two directors went to Hollywood, they mostly abandoned the low-budget idioms they actually employed in both horror franchises and fell in love with CGI and helicopter landscape shots and all that good ol' Hollywood stuff . . . which BTW KILLS HORROR FILMS. Horror movies often work better with lower budgets and cheaper effects, because horror works on the principle of incomplete information. If you don't have CGI, don't have 30 cameras set up in a room, don't have infinite time to do postproduction on gore makeup and effects, you have to get by on really, really thinking about how the person watches your movie and how you have to circumvent their ability to predict and understand. Meaning . . . you have to intellectually press their primal button, instead of indulging in gore candy.

Guys like John Woo and even Wong Kar-Wai have done films here too . . and hasn't been great. The fact that they're hiring the original Korean director, actually makes me question even more whether it'll be comparable to the original.

"Speaking of remakes, I’m still waiting with baited breath for the Hollywood do-over of Oldboy. Last I heard, Spielberg will be at the helm and Will Smith as either the main or supporting man. I just can’t take Will seriously and I know he has improved a lot with roles in Seven Days and I am Legend, but his character in Prince of Bel Air is still…um, Fresh on my mind (pun clearly intended)."

Will Smith is the African American Ben Affleck. Can you see Ben Affleck doing Oldboy? Exactly. :D Also, Steven Spielberg has never done and never proven he can do true black humor in a drama. Heh.

Love to see the American remake of Chaser though. Starring Lil Wayne. :D

make a good plot.

i was ready to ridicule New Moon, until I saw the movie and thought, 'okay, that was better than I expected'. Unless you wanna go academic on it, it's a highly entertaining movie in my opinion.

@belleza #24

"Horror movies often work better with lower budgets and cheaper effects, because horror works on the principle of incomplete information."

Excellent point. You are right as always. I think that could be one of the main reasons why I prefer Asian horror over Hollywood horror; what you *don't* see is what scares you!

Slightly OT here, but I watched Drag Me To Hell a couple of weeks ago and am totally bewildered as to how that's considered the best horror in 2009? I know it's not supposed to be taken too seriously, but when the blood started spraying out of her nose and then later when the goat started talking...wow, what a total joke. This is why I always come back to Asian horror.

Wasn't Phone a remake of a Japanese movie? I guess I had wrong information.

@Kobe (27)

I watched Drag Me To Hell and REALLY liked it. I think it's because of the comical elements (the old gypsy lady bobbing in her dug-up, rain-filled grave, the car fight scene, even the talking goat ...) interwoven with the "horror". Really ... not a true horror flick, but it was just something different.

@ amy (28)

Perhaps you're thinking of "Chakushin Ari" ("One Missed Call"), which was indeed a Japanese production. But "Phone" came out in 2002. "Chakushin Ari" in 2003 and remade by Hollywood in 2008.