Classic Hallyu Drama What Happened to Bali to Get 2018 Remake with Same PD

OMG! That was my reaction at the end of watching K-drama What Happened in Bali, and that is my reaction now upon hearing the news that the drama is barreling towards a 2018 remake that likely no one wants. Fourteen years after WHIB catapulted Jo In Sung, Ha Ji Won, and So Ji Sub to a new level in their acting careers, the same PD is readying a remake that has me screaming no no no noooooooooo with the same visceral level of freaking out that Jo In Sung exhibited portraying the character of a chaebol heir with nary a redeeming quality.

I love this drama to pieces and don’t think there’s a bat’s chance in hell that a remake can approach the impending train wreck perfection of the original in narrative propulsion. Because everyone now knows how it’s all going to end, the tension and what’s going on nervousness won’t be there anymore, not to mention I doubt any of the current crop of twenty-something actors and actresses can pull off what the OT3 did in the original. I admit the 2004 drama now looks crazy dated in visuals but if you can overlook that then the acting, story, directing, and soundtrack all combine to still deliver a gut punch of melodrama intensity that has nary been approached for me since WHIB. Continue reading