The bizarre movie Bong Joon-ho wants to make: “I would like to do”
Any creative person who spends every day working on their craft knows that there are just some projects they have in their wheelhouse that, although interesting and a little obscure, still may never see the light of day. That’s always the case with movie directors. Think of your favourite director; most likely, there is a list of films they were passionate about getting made that nearly got made but will never possibly exist as an entity for various reasons.
The reasons could be a range of issues, such as a lack of studio backing or the project being labelled “unfilmable”. Sometimes, these ideas are deemed “vanity projects”, making it hard for people to ever want to invest money in them. And then you have filmmaker Bong Joon-ho’s case.
The South Korean native is a director’s director. He admires the works of other greats, such as Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, and Alfred Hitchcock. He recently showed excitement as he interviewed John Carpenter and had him agree to score his next film. His incredible body of work culminated in a ‘Best Picture’ nomination and win for his film Parasite at the 2020 Oscars and continues with the release of Mickey 17. But what will Joon-ho’s next film be, though?
Interestingly enough, he told the LA Times during his press for Mickey 17 that he wanted to be tied to a specific franchise. The director finds himself drawn to it for its blend of science fiction and horror, but wants to approach it differently. During a Zoom interview, he outlined his desire, sitting alongside his interpreter, Sharon Choi. “I’m not drawn to franchise films, but I did think at one point that I would like to do an Alien film,” he told reporters, “an Alien musical”.
Say what you will about the idea. It could be one of those unfilmable films, or maybe it’s something that a streamer like Netflix, known for backing directors’ passion projects, whether for better or for worse, needs to get involved in. Alien has had some major players involved in its franchise. A series of films that began with none other than Ridley Scott, then moved to James Cameron, only to be given the reins to a young and up-and-coming director by the name of David Fincher. Why not add Bong Joon-ho into the mix?
When asked about seriously considering the idea of making an Alien musical, he also added his trademark dry wit for a good laugh. However, you should be aware that this could have been something he has been considering for some time. The script for it is most likely already written; there may even be some players who have given a verbal agreement. All Joon-ho has to do is float the idea out to the public to see who bites.
There are no further details on the Alien musical besides that, but once an idea for a movie is born, it’s up to the filmmaker to keep it alive and see it to the finish line. And nobody is better than Joon-ho to make something like that happen.
