Yorgos Lanthimos Eyes Remake of South Korean Cult Classic ‘Save the Green Planet’ — Report

Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” was one of the biggest arthouse hits of 2023 and remains a frontrunner in several major Oscar categories. But as the film’s award season run comes to a close, Lanthimos might already be looking ahead to his next directing gig.

According to a new report in Variety, Lanthimos is planning to direct a remake of Jang Joon-hwan’s 2005 sci-fi satire “Save the Green Planet” for Element Pictures, which also produced “Poor Things.” The genre-bending film, which has long been a source of inspiration for cinematic provocateurs like Ari Aster, follows a man who captures and tortures a pharmaceutical executive that he believes to be part of an ongoing alien invasion.

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IndieWire has reached out to Lanthimos’ representatives for comment.

Lanthimos has already wrapped production on his next film, “Kinds of Kindness,” an anthology film that will see him re-team with frequent collaborators Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, and Joe Alwyn. The Greek director is currently in post-production on the film, which was formerly titled “AND,” and recently revealed that it will see each actor playing multiple roles.

“It’s a contemporary film, set in the U.S. — three different stories, with four or five actors who play one part in each story, so they all play three different parts,” Lanthimos said in an interview with The Guardian. “It was almost like making three films, really.”

If Lanthimos ends up directing “Save the Green Planet,” it will mean that he once again avoided the temptation to walk away from filmmaking. In a recent interview with IndieWire about “Poor Things,” he explained that he always considers retirement after finishing a movie, but never fails to find a project that lures him back in.

“I always want to actually quit after each time I make a film, I want to retire, because it’s so difficult and stressful,” Lanthimos said. “After finishing one, I’m saying like, why am I doing this? I never want to do this again! Maybe I’ll do something else. Then of course time goes by and you forget all that, and you’re intrigued by something new and want to improve yourself.”

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