Well, that certainly didn’t take long. Yesterday, it was announced that Greek weird wave filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos would be directing a remake of the South Korean sci-fi black comedy “Save The Green Planet.” And we speculated within, based on comments that the filmmaker and actress had already made, that Emma Stone could star, and well, yep, she is.
Variety reports that Stone is in talks to play the lead. Stone just won a BAFTA award for Best Actress for starring in Lanthimos’ most current film, “Poor Things,” and she’s among the favorites to win the corresponding Best Actor prize as well.
“Save The Green Planet” would be their fifth collaboration in a row if you include everything: 2018’s “The Favorite,” which earned Stone a Best Supporting Oscar nomination, the 2022 black and white short, “Bleat,” 2023’s “Poor Things” which is nominated for 11 Academy Award prizes, 2024’s upcoming “Kind Of Kindness,” which should arrive later this year via Searchlight Pictures and then this latest remake.
Though technically, it may be their sixth. Last year, Lanthimos said he had shot a much “simpler” film with Stone and cinematographer Robbie Ryan in Greece sometime between 2022 and 2023 (when does he sleep??), but one has to wonder if it was another “Bleat”-like experimental short.
Shooting in the U.K. and New York later this summer, “Save The Green Planet” is described as an eccentric black sci-fi-ish comedy. The story revolves around a disillusioned young man who captures and tortures a businessman he believes to be part of an alien invasion. A battle of wits ensues between the captor, his devoted girlfriend, the businessman, and a private detective.
“Save The Green Planet,” the original South Korean film, was written and directed by Jang Joon-hwan in 2003. Joon-hwan is known for directing films like “1987: When the Day Comes “(2017) and “Hwayi: A Monster Boy” (2013). “Save The Green Planet!” was his feature-length directorial debut.
An ensemble anthology piece, “Kind Of Kindness,” which Lanthimos directs and Stone stars in, was shot last year, is in post-production now, and could easily show up during the fall film festival circuit, with Venice being a good bet. During press for “Poor Things” last year, Lanthimos and Stone teased a fifth potential collaboration and well, “Save The Green Planet” is clearly it.
