Train To Busan and Hellbound director Yeon Sang-ho is set to write and direct a Korean sci-fi horror series for Netflix based on legendary Japanese manga Parasyte (Kiseiju).
Titled Parasyte: The Grey, the story follows a group of humans as they wage war against unidentified parasitic life-forms that take control of human hosts and endeavour to grow their power.
Published by Kodansha, the original science fiction body horror manga series by Hitoshi Iwaaki has sold more than 25 million copies in over 20 territories and countries and spawned popular animation and live-action adaptations.
Starring Jeon So-nee, Koo Kyo-hwan and Lee Jung-hyun, the upcoming series will be produced for Netflix by Climax Studio, which previously made global hits Hellbound and D.P. for the streaming giant, and Wow Point.
Speaking to Screen, Yeon said: “The story will be completely different from the original. The opening will set up that the parasites have landed in Korea, too, and what happens. I conveyed that I wanted to do this sort of story to the original author through Kodansha and we were able to proceed because he liked it.”
The director said he is aware of the significant following the original has and the expectations attached, which are making him work harder. “I’m such a fan of Parasyte,” he said. ”It’s interesting and good to be able to tell my own story [in the same universe]. I’m trying to inherit and carry on the fun and philosophical elements as well.”
Yeon said he is preparing to start shooting next month with a view to wrapping production sometime in the first half of 2023. Netflix has yet to confirm a release date but will release the series exclusively.
“VFX work will take up a fair amount of time. I keep taking on projects with post-production that takes a long time,” he added, referring to sci-fi feature Jung_E, which is in post-production.
He is writing Parasyte: The Grey with Ryu Yong-jae, the screenwriter behind Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area, which topped Netflix’s global top 10 list of non-English TV within three days of its release.
Yeon’s series Hellbound was also among Netflix’s top 10 in 93 countries, and number one in 34 countries, generating 43.5 million viewing hours at launch. After Hellbound and Jung_E, Parasyte: The Grey marks the filmmaker’s third project with the streamer.
Actress Jeon, from the series Scripting Your Destiny, plays a woman who falls victim to a parasite and - when it fails to take over her brain - enters into a bizarre coexistence with it.
Koo and Lee previously worked with Yeon on his Train To Busan follow-up, Peninsula. Koo, who was also in Netflix’s series D.P. and film Kingdom: Ashin of the North, plays a man who tracks down parasites in an effort to try to find his missing sister.
Lee plays the leader of Team Grey, a taskforce battling parasites. After losing her husband to the invasive life-forms, she has committed herself to their destruction.
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