New Line Taps Timo Tjahjanto To Direct ‘Train To Busan’, Its Remake Of South Korean Box Office Hit

EXCLUSIVE: The anticipated Train to Busan remake at New Line looks to be gaining steam as sources tell Deadline that Timo Tjahjanto is in negotiations to helm the pic based on the blockbuster South Korean hit.

Atomic Monster’s James Wan and Michael Clear and Gaumont’s Nicolas Atlan and Terry Kalagian will produce alongside Coin Operated’s Gary Dauberman, who is adapting the screenplay. Judson Scott, Sidonie Dumas, Christophe Riandee and Johanna Byer are executive producing.

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The original film is a zombie apocalypse thriller directed by Sang-Ho Yeon that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016 and quickly became an international box office hit and critical smash. It spawned a sequel, Train to Busan: Peninsula, released in 2020.

When rights to the original hit the marketplace, every studio quickly moved to grab hold of something that could ultimately become a franchise. New Line ultimately won out.

As for Tjahjanto, his star has been on the rise going back to his 2016 thriller Headshot, which was selected by Fantastic Fest that same year. He recently directed Netflix’s action thriller The Night Comes for Us and made his name as half of the Mo Brothers with cult horror and action film favorites Macabre, Killers and his V/H/S 2 segment. Tjahjanto is repped by WME, Management 360 and attorney Marios Rush.

The project reunites New Line with frequent collaborators Wan and Dauberman. New Line, Wan and Dauberman worked together on multiple The Conjuring universe films including the three Annabelle movies and The Nun. Wan has three films with New Line releasing this year – Mortal Kombat (producer), The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (producer) and Malignant (director-producer). Dauberman has penned six films for New Line that have totaled over $2.3 billion in box office receipts including the record-breaking It and It Chapter Two.

Dauberman will next write and direct another Stephen King adaptation for New Line, Salem’s Lot, with Wan producing.

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