Bong Joon Ho has more to say when it comes to “Parasite” and he believes a limited television series is the way to do it.
Moments after the Academy Awards announced four nominations for “Parasite” (original screenplay, foreign language film, best director and best picture) the director hopped on the phone with Variety to discuss the film’s global success and potential future beyond film.
“When I think of a limited series, I really think of it as an expanded film. Like Ingmar Bergman’s ‘Fanny and Alexander,’ you have a three-hour theatrical version and a three-hour TV version. So my goal is to create a high quality an expanded version of ‘Parasite,’” Bong explained via an interpreter.
The news that Bong was teaming up with Adam McKay to create the series for HBO, broke in early January.
“Adam McKay and HBO did very well with ‘Succession,’ to work with these artists who have created great works I would like to actualize this attempt to expand this film and explore all the ideas that I’ve had from the script writing stage from what could happen in between the scenes through the TV series,” Bong said.
Bong insists he and McKay haven’t decided if the series will be set in South Korea or be an English language adaptation. “We’re still very much in the early stages,” he said. “I’ll soon meet with Adam to talk about the set up. For now, a lot of things are open.”
“Parasite” made history this morning when it became the first South Korean movie to be nominated for best picture and best international film. Bong also earned a nod for director as well original screenplay with Jon Won Han. Jinmo Yang earned a nom for editing while Lee Ha Jun and Cho Won Woo are up for production design.
“I didn’t create this film for all these nominations but somehow this all happened. I was particularly happy to get the craft nominations for editing and production design,” Bong said. “They are all great masters with a long career and I was very happy to see them nominated… We put in so much effort in all departments for this film. We tried to approach it with mastery and artistry and with new challenges and not remain complacent and I think the voters really recognized that as fellow filmmakers.”