Before Bong Joon-Ho’s “Parasite” swept the 2020 Academy Awards, CJ Entertainment, the South Korean production and distribution company behind the film , were not planning such a big entry into the Hollywood mainstream. In fact, prior to this success, they were trying to shop a potential English-language remake of the 2003 Korean cult favorite “ Save the Green Planet !” on an indie scale similar to the original. As reported on by The Hollywood Reporter , while speaking at the 2024 Busan International Film Festival at a forum on Navigating the New Paradigm, head of CJ ENM’s film division, Jerry Ko admitted that despite trying carry on the homespun spirit of the original, attaching talent like Yorgos Lanthimos , Ari Aster, Emma Stone, and Jesse Plemons has ballooned the project, now retitled “ Bugonia ,” into something bigger than he ever expected.
“We started out with the belief that the film’s concept was ahead of its time and that [maybe we] could make an indie movie, but as we traveled around Hollywood, we realized that there were many hidden fans of the original film,” said Ko. “I happened to be in L.A.
and saw Ari Aster moderating a screening of ‘Save the Green Planet!’ at a theater, so I reached out to him and asked him to be a part of the production. So he came on board as a producer. Then Will Tracy, a screenwriter of ‘Succession,’ came on board and wrote the story.
The buzz started to build from then on.” Eventually Lanthimos, hot off .
