‘Parasite’ Made History at Oscars Once, Now Bong Joon-ho Is Confident It Will Do The Same at HBO

The South Korean black comedy thriller film Parasite, directed by Bong Joon-ho, starred Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, and more. The story follows the life of a poor family who infiltrate the life of a wealthy family. The filmmaker shared at the time that he was inspired by the Korean film Housemaid that released in 1960.

Parasite premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and became the first Korean film to win the Palme d’Or. Upon its worldwide release, the movie went on to break records and win accolades, including the Best Picture award at the 92nd Academy Awards. It became the first non-English film to win the prestigious award. Bong Joon-ho was highly praised for his direction, screenplay, editing, and production. The filmmaker has an update for the American adaptation of the film for TV.

Filmmaker Bong Joon-ho shares an update for the Parasite series for HBO

South Korean director Bong Joon-ho is gearing up for the release of his science-fiction comedy film Mickey 17 starring Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun, Mark Ruffalo, and more. The filmmaker at the premiere of Mickey 17 spoke to Deadline and shared an interesting update on the highly awaited Parasite series for HBO.

He shared on the red carpet,

Writers are working very hard, and the writing room of that show itself can be another TV show. Just wait a bit longer; it’s going to take a while.

The upcoming HBO series was announced back in 2020 after Joon-ho’s 2019 Parasite became a success and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The director was reportedly attached to the project as the executive producer alongside Adam McKay.

Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite is regarded as one of the best movies of all time as it examines the themes of class conflict and wealth disparity. The shocking twist in the movie has been considered one of the most unpredictable climaxes in recent years.

Actress Tilda Swinton was initially attached to the project, but she shared with Variety in 2020 that she has exited the project, but she is very happy to be a cheerleader for the team. The film is said to be an English-language remake of the 2019 Parasite, but being a series, it gives the makers the chance to explore subplots and characters in depth.

Bong Joon-ho revealed the HBO series to explore hidden stories about the characters

Back in 2021, Adam McKay shared with Josh Horowitz on his Happy Sad Confused podcast (via Collider) that they were having the best time, noting that they had just staffed up an incredible writers’ room, and he had outlined the series with Joon-ho. McKay clarified,

It’s an original series. It’s in the same universe as the feature, but it’s an original story that lives in that same world.

The filmmaker further mentioned that occasionally in life one gets lucky to be able to work with some of the finest talents, and for him, it was to get to work with Bong Joon-ho. He added that he is legitimately honored to be working with him.

Bong Joon-ho had shared earlier that the reason he wanted to create a Parasite series was because he had so many ideas that he could not adjust in his two-hour-long film. He added (via IndieWire) that the ideas are all stored with him on his iPad, and his goal is to create a six-hour-long film.

In speaking to Variety back in 2020 at the SAG Awards, Joon-ho shared that the series is going to include many hidden stories that will be revealed about the characters. Fans who loved Parasite are looking forward to watching the American version of Parasite, and just like Joon-ho, they believe in his vision and are assured that it’s going to be as good as the 2019 movie. However, there has been no official release date for the series.

Parasite can be streamed on Prime Video.