Hollywood Remakes Korean Movies, Looks Overseas for Fresh Ideas

Korean movies have become popular internationally. Naturally, Hollywood has bought the rights to remake some of them. This is not a new concept; Hollywood has borrowed from cinema all around the world. Korea is one of the current hot sources of inspiration.

Since foreign-language films rarely get wide release in U.S. theaters, this is one way that these stories can be exposed to the general American audience. Of course, the plots are tweaked, and sometimes something is lost in translation. Occasionally the Hollywood remakes bridge the gap and bring a new perspective and something exciting to eager movie fans.

Lake House
The Lake House (2006) is the first in the trend of American remakes of Korean movies. It stars Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. The original is Siworae (2000), also known by its international English title, Il Mare. The story is a fantasy romance. Two people mystically communicate across time through a shared mailbox. They live in the same house, but two years apart. Will love be enough to bring them together in the present? The remake stays close to the original plot, but there are some differences in the ending. The American remake does not change it completely, but as expected Hollywood chooses a less ambiguous final scene.

My Sassy Girl
Yeopgijeogin geunyeo (2001) is a Korean romantic comedy based on a real relationship. The international English title is My Sassy Girl. Kim Ho-sik wrote about his ex-girlfriend in an Internet journal to help himself put things in perspective. A studio read his chronicle of their awkward romance and approached him to write the screenplay. The hilarious movie delighted of millions of fans. The wacky story also caught the eye of Hollywood. My Sassy Girl (2008) stars up-and-coming actors Elisha Cuthbert and Jesse Bradford. It hasn't been released yet, so it remains to be seen how well the humor will translate through Hollywood's lens.