Korean film 'Train to Busan' to be remade in English

The popular Korean action film "Train to Busan" will be remade in English, its distributor said Thursday.

NEW said the film's remake right was sold to France's Gaumont Film Company, a major global film studio behind such hit films as "Leon," "The Fifth Element" and "Point Blank."

"We are very happy to work with such a studio that has done various global projects in the past," Kim Woo-taek, the head of NEW said. "I hope this will provide moviegoers around the world an opportunity to get to know more Korean movies," he added.

"Many studios from other nations have requested a remake contract with them, but we decided to go with Gaumont in the end," an official from NEW said.

A still image from the movie "Train To Busan" provided by its distributor, NEW. Photo:Yonhap

"We will do our best to showcase an interesting movie to the American audience," said the French studio, while explaining how the team immediately fell in love with the movie as soon as they watched it at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Directed by Yeon Sang-ho, the film depicts a group of passengers battling against an attack by people infected with a mysterious virus on a Busan-bound bullet train, which is no longer safe from the nationwide viral outbreak. It stars Gong Yoo, Kim Soo-an, Jung Yu-mi and Ma Dong-seok.

The zombie thriller had drawn more than 10 million moviegoers when it was released in local theaters in July.

(Yonhap)