K-dramas Vincenzo and Hometown Cha Cha Cha Sold by Studio Dragon for Overseas Drama Remakes
Hhhmmm, this feels like a money grab from production company Studio Dragon but it could be net positive if the end products work for those viewer tastes. Hit K-dramas Vincenzo and Hometown Cha Cha Cha have been licensed for overseas international remakes, though no word yet on which country(ies). I feel both dramas are uniquely Korean, the former for that twist on the mafia revenge yarn set in the rich and powerful world of chaebols, and the latter for the slice-of-life Korean emotional baggage and small town quirks. I don’t see any need for remakes other than for the production company to milk the success in different forums, as it’s also announced the Vincenzo will have NFT goodies and also hold a Japan exhibition while Hometown has partnered with the Korean Tourism Bureau to film a VR film and promote the seaside locale as a tourist destination. In terms of casting the roles of the leads for those two dramas, the only one I think would be hard pressed to beat the original and/or add a different or better twist to it is trying to top Song Joong Ki‘s charismatic and powerful turn as Vincenzo Cassano.
Personally, I’m not against another country creating a remake if they take their time and put in effort. For example, Hometown Cha Cha Cha is not necessary a “new concept” story. It feels a little bit like Doc Hollywood, and really works well because it highlights the location. If the rights are sold to a place that not many people are aware of or know a lot about and is filmed in a way that really showcases that places’ beauty and charm, it could be good and a fun watch.
As for Vincenzo, it would be interesting if they kept it a little bit dark and gritty. It would be neat if the UK or even Italy bought the rights to remake it because I think they could pull off the tone well — almost following a Peaky Blinders feel.
@Sarah: I agree. Honestly, the base for Hometown Cha Cha story is pretty old hat: big city guy/gal comes to quaint village, falls in love with good-looking local (usually with dark secret which is the reason why good-looking local is conveniently single), adapts to their way of living and becomes part of the village family yadda yadda What made Hometown Cha Cha work was the Korean village life feel but they could replicate those unique village quirks and villagers to adapt to different cultures.
Vincenzo will be much more difficult to adapt especially finding an actor with SJK’s talent and charisma who can play all the different facets of Vincenzo Cassano’s character from stone cold killer to the broad comedy to self-loathing to wistfully and slowly falling in love and back to ruthless. I do like your idea of an European adaptation.
Will TVN license all its hit dramas internationally? First CLOY, and now Vincenzo and Hometown CCC.
Hometown CCC could work for Japan. Vincenzo could work for US and Japan. Babel was based off Purdue Pharmaceuticals, and anti-heroes, vigilante justice, and fighting the (corrupt) system have always been popular themes with the American audience.
HCC is basically a korean hallmark movie so nothing new there. Big city girl goes to small town and falls in love with local hunk. The template of every hallmark movie ever.
Vincenzo will be a little bit trickier to adapt not because of sjk but because of the hcy character. That ott character will only work in an asian setting i think.
HCY will need to be retweaked if for a Western audience. They’ll need to pull back her wackiness and hone in on her ruthless, femme fatale side. It won’t be too hard – think of a Selina Kyle/Catwoman type character.
The bigger issue with adapting Vincenzo is that 1) they’re going to have to scrap all the queer-baiting and the characters that went with it, and 2) the comedy x noir combo is hard to pull off; maybe scrap the comedy all together.
Vincenzo withput the humour? It is like losing one of its’trademark. They go hand-in-hand: the thriller and the humour. Western countries can never get it.
I think both could be easily adapted by other countries. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha could be set anywhere. I could see the Hallmark Channel in the U.S. adapting it as either a movie or series. Japan has been adapting some Korean series recently, and I could see them buying these.
It will be awsome if Vincenzo adapted by writers who know how to create real tension, not thension for the sake of cliffhanger and after that the plot is develop like a snail. the premise is interesting, the execution, not so much. and i think a better writing will be make it good. but it will be hard to find the right actor.
i like hometown cha cha cha alot better but abit lackluster with the development of the main lead in third act.might be they will adapt it alot better for asian country with slice of life setting.
As usual about depth…poor thing the drama that missjib is currently following is a flop, in terms of writing, directing and acting
which drama you are refering too? I dropped Nwabu in ep 7 because it turnnout focus on romance which conflict doesnt interesting at all
and following the red sleeve right now. I finished vincenzo out of loyalty because I love SJK.
I personally have a feeling that if there will be a remake of vincenzo there would be no comparison or problem with the real one because I think this goes with the same case of descendants of the sun. There are so many remakes of that but nobody was able to pull to top with the original, nor yoo shin jin character, nor direction ,nor writing. Right now one ordinary day is going on which is decent one but nobody can compare it with the original one. And in terms of playing ‘vincenzo Cassano’ i think nobody can play like he played because I have seen/ read many writers, directors, actors words saying they can’t imagine someone playing/ or playing better than him playing the charcters he played. The actor of remake one might put his own flavour to it but not the same. Like the same old eg of Sherlock Holmes- Benedict, Robert Downey both were brilliant and had different style.
I personally don’t want remakes. If there will be any petition for no remake I will support. Why and who needs a remake when u have the original one. They are on Netflix, so there is no Language or region barrier, unless it’s china so what’s the need. They are present all over the world so why to spoil them.
Just curious. Do you feel the same way about the endless Korean remakes of foreign works over the years, most of which flopped not just in ratings but overall execution? Or better yet, are you also against the upcoming Korean remakes of La Casa de Papel, Someday Or One Day and Golden Hairpin?
Vincenzo could be interesting if the writer can adapt it to his/her own culture. Vincenzo had a lot of references, humor, etc. typical to Korea.
I agree, if they have a good script and find a lead as charismatic as Song Joong Ki, it can be done, but I’m still having a hard time imagining an adaptation getting that classic Park Jae Bum dark humour right. imo casting is key here, along with the adaptation.
Just my 2 cents. I think US can adapt Vincenzo if they have the right people. I have seen similar black crime comedy with its own quirks set in icy Minnesota like Fargo season 1 and 2. Fargo was laden with veterans Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Kristen Dunst, Ted Danson, Patrick Wilson, Colin Hanks, etc. The storylines were laden with suspense and comedy. Same with Three Billboards. Just need someone like Quentin Taratino or the Coen brothers to adpat accordingly.
Fargo Season 2 was legendary, it’s my favourite season of the show with that cast and that setting.
The humour is a bit different from the tone of Vincenzo but yeah it’s not like US tv can’t do dark humour in crime dramas or can’t find good actors, but Vincenzo has so much about it that’s specifically Korean (including how Vincenzo came to be adopted in the first place), it’ll be interesting to see what cultural changes they make in any future remake.
If it’s a UK-US join production with the budget and scale of Games of Thrones, I don’t see why Vincenzo adaption wouldn’t work. In terms of casting, if budget allows they can pick the creme de la creme or hold open auditions to scout for new faces. HCCC is the easiest to adapt. Hallmark template is already there. Any country can pick it up and spin it to their local flavor.
Talking about Studio Dragon. I don’t see it as a money grab. It makes business sense to earn money from your own investments to finance other upcoming projects. If someone offers to buy, one doesn’t cut off its own nose not to sell. SD is adapting beloved US classic Little Women so it goes both ways. Little birds tell me SD & tvN are investing big budget & prep time for LW. Pre-production runs from Nov 21-Feb 21. Shooting starts Feb 22-July 22. Casting finalised but not announced yet.
pd of vincenzo will direct korean version of lw. k-netz excited to see if pd follow book or writer make own stories.
Are you sure it’s Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and the drama didn’t just landed on the English title Little Women? The book has 4 sisters, not 3, and it is very much an “all American” novel, so hard to see how it will be carried over to Korea.
Nam Ji Hyun posted IG story a photo of LMA Little Women next to presumably the drama’s scenario booklet and her cat Tanku. Source: twitter.com/namjihyun_net?lang=en (nov 2 2021). NJH was offered one of the sisters’ role. Nobody expecting it to be a complete faithful adaptation, it’s impossible anyways but maybe based on some main characters and basic outline. Much like tvn’s The Smile Has Left Your Eyes is different from Japanese version Hundred Million Stars From The Sky.
lw book hyunnie posted is in red cover. gold embossed words. title little women by lm alcott. just like in lw film starring saoirse ronan.
@Ji Hyun Global Fan & @soo yeon – Gotcha, thanks for the info!
Funny that people have no problem with other countries remaking CLOY but the minute Koreans remake an American classic, nah it can’t be done, are you sure? Too “all American” hard to see it done. Superior patronising tone comes out so obviously tsk tsk.
I can’t imagine where the heroine in an American version of CLOY would even “crash land” lol. Imagine Canada or Mexico as a ‘hostile’ country? hehe. Maybe Cuba, but even Cuba allows Americans to enter now.
…I don’t see why Little Women the book can’t be adapted to a Korean setting? Having sisters isn’t a specifically American thing after all.
Also I remember the kdrama version of Three Musketeers from many years ago starring Lee Jin Wook and Seo Hyun Jin, it was great. Adaptations from different cultures can absolutely work if they’re well done.
Yes i agree with you _?. I don’t feel a need of remakes for popular good series like the ones you mentioned above. I feel like remakes have become just a platform for less popular actors to bring them in limelight. Well there can be other aspects also. But I think right now time is very different from last decades, we live in a world where we can connect, communicate to anyone around the world. Rightnow there r no regional,Language, source barrier present so why can’t we taste the flavours of original ones.