Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett to Remake 'I Saw the Devil'

There was never going to be a good time to announce a remake a Kim Ji-woon's ultra-violet (and awesome) South Korean thriller, I Saw the Devil, but to do it not long after Spike Lee's disastrous Oldboy remake was just plain stupid. But that's what happened, and now that the project is moving forward the talent coming aboard it could make this American remake far more successful.

The Wrap reports that director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett, whose thriller The Guest opens this week, will bring I Saw the Devil to theaters. The duo also collaborated on the home invasion flick, You're Next, one of the best the genre has seen in years. The original film was released in 2010 and starred Oldboy's Choi Min-Sik as a vicious serial killer who gets more than he bargained for when murders a cop's pregnant fiance. It turns into a brutal game of cat 'n mouse as they both try to outdo the other. The film was known for the increasing levels of violence and a twisted conclusion where the line between hero and monster gets fuzzy.

So at least there's reason for optimism. Wingard and Barrett have the sensibility to do this film the way it needs to be done.

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American Remake of 'I Saw the Devil' in the Works

Why bother wasting time complaining about American remakes of great foreign movies? People don't pay for subtitles, unless it's in a sci-fi flick translating martian language or something. As it turns out most people don't pay for such remakes, either, as Spike Lee's underrated Oldboy is proving right now...or was proving since it's probably out of theaters already. But that's not going to stop Dredd producer Adi Shankar from giving it another go, as he plans to redo Kim Ji-Woon's twisted revenge thriller, I Saw the Devil.

The original South Korean film, released in 2010, was a demented symphony of violence and chaos, starring Choi Min-Sik (from the original Oldboy) as a crazed serial killer who murders for fun. When he kills the pregnant  fiancée of elite special agent Soo-hyun (Lee Byung-Hun of G.I. Joe: Retaliation), they become embroiled in a brutal game of one-upsmanship in which the lines between hero and monster are blurred.  It's an intense, bone-chilling film that always keeps you on your toes, and ended up on a lot of Top 10 lists that year.

So I'm not happy about this in the least, but let's wait and see what talent is attached before lighting any torches.

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