Korean hit My Sassy Girl lost in US translation
10/03/2008 | 04:31 PM
BUSAN, South Korea - Korean-American producer Roy Lee has been a pioneer in remaking Asian movies for Hollywood, scoring big hits with movies like "The Ring" and the Oscar-winning "The Departed." Still, he says one of his recent productions got lost in translation.
"My Sassy Girl" — a smash hit in its native South Korea in 2001 — went straight to video in the US because men rejected its premise of a male character putting up with a bossy love interest in American test screenings, Lee said Friday.
"Men rejected the movie. In the US version, the American audiences would go, 'If a girl did that to me, we'd just dump her,'" Lee told The Associated Press in an interview on the sidelines of the Pusan International Film Festival.
Lee said the original film succeeded in South Korea because the concept of a bossy girlfriend is a novelty in Asia, while it is not uncommon in the U.S.
"I realize some things work better in Asia," Lee said.
The US$10 million production starring Jesse Bradford and Elisha Cuthbert, who plays Jack Bauer's daughter in the TV series "24," went straight to DVD.
Lee said the remake was also hampered by a flawed script, time and budget constraints.
The original, starring Jun Ji-hyun and Cha Tae-hyun, was the No. 2 box office hit in the South Korean capital Seoul.
Lee's best-known films have been reimagined versions of Asian hits. "The Departed" is based on the Hong Kong movie "Infernal Affairs" and "The Ring" on the Japanese horror film "Ring."
Lee says Asian remakes are popular now that it's easier to attract interest from Hollywood executives, stars and screenwriters.
"Whenever there's an article about a release that becomes a hit in Asia, I get calls from various studios saying, 'What do you think about this for a remake?'" he said.
He said remakes appeal to Hollywood executives because they carry lower risk.
"It's almost like a best-selling book being adapted into a movie. There's a better chance it's going to be accepted by the marketplace because we know the concept or story of the book has been accepted by the public," he said.
Despite the disappointing reception to "My Sassy Girl," Lee hasn't given up on remakes. He said he's now making them more quickly by snapping up foreign films that haven't even been made.
For example, he bought the rights to his upcoming horror movie "Quarantine" before the Spanish original, "Rec," was released. The American version finished shooting in January just months after the original was released in Spain last October.
"Quarantine" will be released in US theaters on Oct. 10. - AP
"My Sassy Girl" — a smash hit in its native South Korea in 2001 — went straight to video in the US because men rejected its premise of a male character putting up with a bossy love interest in American test screenings, Lee said Friday.
"Men rejected the movie. In the US version, the American audiences would go, 'If a girl did that to me, we'd just dump her,'" Lee told The Associated Press in an interview on the sidelines of the Pusan International Film Festival.
Lee said the original film succeeded in South Korea because the concept of a bossy girlfriend is a novelty in Asia, while it is not uncommon in the U.S.
"I realize some things work better in Asia," Lee said.
The US$10 million production starring Jesse Bradford and Elisha Cuthbert, who plays Jack Bauer's daughter in the TV series "24," went straight to DVD.
Lee said the remake was also hampered by a flawed script, time and budget constraints.
The original, starring Jun Ji-hyun and Cha Tae-hyun, was the No. 2 box office hit in the South Korean capital Seoul.
Lee's best-known films have been reimagined versions of Asian hits. "The Departed" is based on the Hong Kong movie "Infernal Affairs" and "The Ring" on the Japanese horror film "Ring."
Lee says Asian remakes are popular now that it's easier to attract interest from Hollywood executives, stars and screenwriters.
"Whenever there's an article about a release that becomes a hit in Asia, I get calls from various studios saying, 'What do you think about this for a remake?'" he said.
He said remakes appeal to Hollywood executives because they carry lower risk.
"It's almost like a best-selling book being adapted into a movie. There's a better chance it's going to be accepted by the marketplace because we know the concept or story of the book has been accepted by the public," he said.
Despite the disappointing reception to "My Sassy Girl," Lee hasn't given up on remakes. He said he's now making them more quickly by snapping up foreign films that haven't even been made.
For example, he bought the rights to his upcoming horror movie "Quarantine" before the Spanish original, "Rec," was released. The American version finished shooting in January just months after the original was released in Spain last October.
"Quarantine" will be released in US theaters on Oct. 10. - AP
