‘Bugonia’ Remakes a Classic Korean Sci-Fi Thriller With Some Out-There Influences

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The new film, Bugonia, features Jesse Plemons kidnapping Emma Stone, who plays the head of a large pharmaceutical company. He holds her captive in his basement and demands she admit she’s an alien from the Andromeda galaxy. Stone’s character thinks the situation is ridiculous, but Plemons’s character is completely convinced by his conspiracy theories and won’t let up – he wants a confession and to be taken to her alien leader. This darkly funny premise comes from Yorgos Lanthimos, the director of Poor Things, but some viewers might recognize the storyline from other films.

“Bugonia” is a reimagining of the 2003 Korean film “Save the Green Planet!” The original movie centers on Lee Byeong-gu, who believes pharmaceutical executive Kang Man-shik is an alien and kidnaps him. He’s aided by his girlfriend, Su-ni, a playful acrobat. “Bugonia” closely follows the plot of “Save the Green Planet!,” though it has a very different style and makes some key changes, including swapping the CEO’s gender. While the remake is enjoyable, fans should also check out the original for a unique perspective on the story.

‘Save the Green Planet!’ Has Some Surprising (and Unusual) Hollywood Influences

Jang Joon-hwan’s first feature film, Save the Green Planet!, came after he’d worked on short films and as a cinematographer. It was part of a surge of South Korean movies that gained international recognition in the early to mid-2000s, but the director says it wasn’t a commercial success. In an interview with Little White Lies, Jang admitted it was “very painful” to see the film perform poorly in theaters. Like many Korean thrillers from that period, Save the Green Planet! blends suspense, humor, and a significant amount of graphic violence.

The idea for Save the Green Planet! came from a surprising mix of sources. Director Jang Joon-hwan told the Village Voice in 2005 that he felt like he’d absorbed films from around the world. While he drew inspiration from many places, he was particularly influenced by Hollywood movies. Beyond a clear nod to 2001: A Space Odyssey, the film’s initial spark actually came from Rob Reiner’s Misery, starring Kathy Bates. Jang admitted he loved Misery when it was released, but he was troubled by Bates’ character being portrayed simply as a villain. He decided he wanted to explore kidnapping from a different angle – by telling the story from the kidnapper’s perspective.

The film Save the Green Planet! centers around Byeong-gu, a man who kidnaps someone while believing in a bizarre theory about aliens. While his reasons are often unclear and his ideas seem far-fetched, he remains the focus of the story. Throughout the film, the audience’s feelings towards Byeong-gu shift. Even when his conspiracy theories seem incorrect, his anger towards the man he kidnapped feels understandable. The CEO, Man-shik, runs a company that harms both people and the environment, and it’s revealed they also caused Byeong-gu’s mother’s death during a drug trial.

While Misery isn’t a science fiction story, it surprisingly inspired the film Save the Green Planet!, which explores the idea that aliens might be secretly controlling and ruining the world. Director Jang explained that the film’s concept really came together when he stumbled upon a strange conspiracy theory. He found a website claiming Leonardo DiCaprio was an alien attempting to seduce women to conquer Earth, and he felt the two ideas connected perfectly, as he told the Village Voice.


CJ Entertainment

‘Bugonia’ Puts ‘Save the Green Planet!’s Anti-Capitalist POV in a New Context

I was really surprised by the new movie, Bugonia. It’s hilarious and a total thriller, but it’s also so much more than that. It really digs into how the rich and powerful are messing things up for everyone else. What’s especially interesting is how the movie shows how that kind of unfairness can lead people down rabbit holes of conspiracy theories, which actually hurts their ability to work together and ultimately just leads to more problems. It’s cool that the remake kept that message from the original, even though it’s been updated for today’s world, and you have to think about it a little differently now.

Released in 2003, the film Save the Green Planet! reflects South Korea’s recent history of transitioning from military rule, a period marked by street protests and events like the 1980 Kwangju massacre – often called Korea’s Tiananmen Square. While the movie’s messages about fighting against power and unchecked capitalism resonate globally, it also specifically explores how traditional authoritarian control in Korea might have evolved into a more subtle, corporate-driven form of oppression.

Jang explained to Little White Lies that South Korea changed quickly during his childhood, becoming an industrial powerhouse in just a few decades. This period of rapid growth was marked by conflict, with media coverage of accidents, disputes, and even companies using gangsters—known as gusadae—to suppress worker protests. He often saw characters like Kang Man-shik portrayed in the media as greedy and exploitative, and this figure became a symbol of the era’s villainy.

Jang contrasted this by explaining that Byeong-gu’s home is located in a coal mining town. He said he was deeply affected by seeing news footage as a child – black and white images of a coal mine collapse and strike in the 1970s – and those memories stayed with him, influencing the setting.

Following the success of Jang’s film 1987: When the Day Comes, discussions began in 2017 and 2018 about remaking his earlier film, Save the Green Planet!. The idea for a remake actually came from Jang himself. CJ Entertainment proposed creating a project for international audiences, and he immediately envisioned Save the Green Planet! as a good fit – believing it could be improved with a fresh setting, cast, and a different production system.

Ari Aster, the director of Hereditary and a fan of the original film, joined the project as a producer. Initially, he planned to direct the remake alongside writer Will Tracy (known for Succession and Mountainhead), but health problems forced him to step down. They then approached Yorgos Lanthimos, who agreed to direct, with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons cast in leading roles.

When asked about the remake, Jang told Little White Lies he was excited and enjoyed it. However, he also expressed some sadness, pointing out that the world itself hasn’t changed much – it’s still a place filled with conflict and violence. He’s glad both the original and the remake exist, which he considers a rare success for a reimagining of a classic film.

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2025-10-31 20:49