Focus Features has acquired the worldwide rights to Yorgos Lanthimos' latest project, Bugonia, a remake of the South Korean sci-fi comedy Save the Green Planet! (2003). The film follows two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap a CEO, believing she is an alien intent on destroying Earth. Lanthimos will direct and produce with Element Pictures' Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe, Square Peg's Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen, Emma Stone via her Fruit Tree banner, and CJ ENM's Jerry Kyoungboum Ko. Bugonia is an English-language version of the successful South Korean comedy that won two Korean Film Awards.
Lanthimos, a six-time Academy Award nominated filmmaker, was born in Athens, Greece. His previous films include Dogtooth (Un Certain Regard Prize at the 62nd Festival de Cannes and nominated for Best Foreign Language Film), The Lobster (Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay), The Killing of a Sacred Deer (premiered in competition at the 70th Festival de Cannes and won the Best Screenplay prize), and The Favourite, which premiered in 2018 at the 75th Venice Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize - Silver Lion and its star Olivia Colman won the Copa Volpi - Best Actress Award. Lanthimos' next film, Poor Things, won the Golden Lion at the 2023 Venice film festival and earned 11 Academy Award nominations and took home four wins, including Best Actress for star Stone.
Focus Features will release Bugonia in the US, while Universal Pictures will handle international distribution excluding South Korea. The film marks a reunion for Lanthimos with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons.
Producers Guiney and Lowe said, “We are so looking forward to working with the brilliant team at Focus Features and are delighted to be reuniting with Yorgos, Emma, and Jesse as well as many of the great crew we have collaborated with on recent films.”
Producer Ko added, “I am thrilled to introduce the intriguing story rooted in Korean Cinema's hidden gem, in collaboration with the ideal team of talent and producers, alongside the reliable studio. I expect that Yorgos will ignite a dynamic chemical fusion with his unique style and the novelty of the narrative.”
Christian Vesper, CEO Global Drama at Fremantle, also said, “We are thrilled that Fremantle is coming on board for Yorgos' latest project and are proud to support the wonderful team at Element. Yorgos' films are consistently innovative and captivating, and we are delighted to join him and all the wonderful partners on Bugonia.”
