Focus Features has taken worldwide rights to Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest project Bugonia, the remake of South Korean sci-fi comedy Save the Green Planet, which sees the Greek director reunite yet again with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons. The trio are here in Cannes with their Competition title Kinds of Kindness, which had its world premiere Friday.
Focus will release Bugonia in the U.S., with Universal Pictures distributing the title internationally (excluding South Korea). It’s the second deal for Focus Features announced in Cannes this week (Focus picked up Woody Harrelson starrer Last Breath a few days ago), but this one will be a notable coup for the studio given that Lanthimos’ previous Oscar-winning titles The Favourite and Poor Things as well as Cannes contender Kinds of Kindness were all handled by Searchlight for distribution.
Bugonia follows two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. It’s another reteam for Lanthimos with producers Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe of Element Pictures, who will produce with Lanthimos, Square Peg’s Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen, Stone via her Fruit Tree banner, and Jerry Kyoungboum Ko of CJ ENM.
This will be an English-language version of the 2003 South Korean sci-fi comedy Save the Green Planet, which was a huge hit on the international festival circuit and won two Korean Film Awards. Bugonia will be the sixth collaboration for Stone and Lanthimos.
“Yorgos Lanthimos is a cinematic visionary with a singular style that has captivated audiences worldwide,” said Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski. “We could not be more excited to partner with him, Emma and the incredible teams at Element, Square Peg and CJ ENM to reimagine this twisted and darkly funny story.”
Guiney and Lowe added: “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.”
Kyongboum 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, Fremantle’s CEO of Global Drama added: “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.”
Fremantle took a majority stake in Element Pictures in 2022. The Irish-Anglo outfit, which is featured as one of Deadline’s Cannes Disruptors 2024, is coming into Cannes this year with three films in official selection: Competition title Kinds of Kindness, which reunites Lanthimos with his long-term writing partner Efthimis Filipou; French actor Ariane Labed’s directorial debut September Says; and I Am Not a Witch director Rungano Nyoni’s sophomore feature On Becoming a Guinea Fowl.