All About My Wife directed by MIN Kyu-dong became the top grossing romantic comedy of 2012 by drawing 4.59 million viewers. The film made news again when it was belatedly known that the film is based on the Argentine film A Boyfriend for My Wife (2008). When the film was released, its fresh story and the power of its characters launched the film to fame. Then after the remake status was realized, a lot of attention was placed on possibilities of producing remakes of Latin American films for the Korean market. Korean film studios became very active in searching for remake rights to Latin American films and other overseas works that year, but All About My Wife remains as the only adaptation from a Latin American original.

Two years later, Soo Film, the company behind All About My Wife, is receiving attention by working on another remake project based on a Latin American film. This time, the film is Casa Amor, a remake of the Brazilian film Upside Down (2010). It is quite rare for one film studio to remake films of two Latin American films. Let’s take a look at how the two films were purchased and made into Korean films.

 

 
First of all, Soo Film saw A Boyfriend for My Wife on Korean cable TV and reached out to its Argentine producer via its Korean importer and struck a deal to buy its remake right. A Boyfriend for My Wife topped the Argentine box office at number one for seven consecutive weeks and earned its lead actress the Best Actress Prize at the Argentine Academy Awards. The original film was produced by Production Companies Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales and Patagonik Film Group. In fact, it was not easy to purchase the remake right to the film in the beginning. When Soo Film asked the Argentine producers about the purchase of A Boyfriend for My Wife, a studio in another country had already owned its right. Thus, Soo Film was unable to sign a contract with the Argentine producers.

In the spring of 2011, Soo Film asked for the film again after releasing The Most Beautiful Goodbye. The film had finished its term for the exclusive right contract over time and became available. Then, Soo Film secured the right to the film without any difficulties, induced investment, and produced it. In May of 2012, one year after the purchase, the film succeeded in drawing 4.59 million audiences, a rare accomplishment by a comedy film.

 

The success of the remake led many people to have interest in its original film. The success allowed the original A Boyfriend for My Wife to be belatedly released in Korea (December 2013) and its rights to be sold to other countries including China. Rights to other Argentine films were sold to China as well. The effects of the success did not end there. In 2014, Soo Film turned All About My Wife into a play, turning it into a one-source multi-use business.

  

Afterwards, Soo Film bought a remake right to another Latin American film. This was attributable to the fact that Soo Film had maintained an amicable relationship with the Argentine producers. After the release of All About My Wife, not only did Soo Film send a DVD of the film to the Argentine company, but the producer and line producer from Argentina visited Korean and they maintained a friendly relationship. The maintenance of such a relationship held the key to the purchase of the remake right to the Brazilian film Upside Down. Unlike A Boyfriend for My Wife, an Argentine agency actively recommended Soo Film to buy a remake right to Upside Down.

Upside Down which was released in Brazil is a sexy romantic comedy which unfolds when the lead character, a workaholic mom bumps into the female owner of an adult toy shop. In the year of its release, the film was honored as the hit film of the year in Brazil and was nominated for the Best Screenplay at Brazil’s Academy Awards. The original film was produced by Downtown Filmes, Globo Filmes, Morena Films and Paris Filmes in Brazil.

Initially, Soo Film hesitated to buy the right of the film. “We were able to attract investment in Working Girl in Korea since we had succeeded in making a remake of a Latin American film and had a box office hit,” MIN Jin-soo, the CEO of Soo Film said. “However, a big difference between Korean and Brazilian sentiments towards adult products made it difficult to write a Korean screenplay based on the original and cast actors.”

 

“All About My Wife has a common theme, that is, the mishaps during a couple’s divorce process. Thus, it was easier to write a Korean screenplay for the remake. An established director and top stars decided to take part in the project, making the production process relatively smoother. But it was a real challenge to write a Korean screenplay for Working Girl and cast actors,” MIN added. The investor (Megabox Plus M) scaled down its production budget to minimize their risk, giving us difficulties in implementing the project.

Working Girl, which to be released in Korea on January 8th, is a comedy about a bizarre partnership between Bo-hee, a career woman who was suddenly fired, and Nan-hee, the owner of an adult product shop. The story about two women who want to be successful in love and work through their partnership is unique and was never used in Korean films before. Accordingly, its filmmaker has much anticipation for the film. On the other hand, the beginning of cinematic exchanges between Korea and Latin America permitted Latin America to buy a remake right to a Korean film. The Housemaid’s remake right was sold to Latin America, and the film will be remade into a film or a TV show, but detailed production plans are yet to come. A wide cultural gap between the two significantly impedes the localization of the film.

 
Why do Korean filmmakers try to find new subject matters in unfamiliar Latin American films? In fact, the distance between Korea and Latin America puts up a psychological barrier between the two and hinders social and cultural exchanges. Equally important, Latin America’s lack of understanding of Korea also hampers the promotion of exchanges of film rights. In 2006, Soo Film attempted to buy a right to the Mexican novel Like Water for Chocolate, only to fail due to the author’s rejection. But six years later, the production company has made the remakes of two films successfully. “The humanism in Latin American films is denser than those in Hollywood films. Latin American films have many sentiments similar to those of Korean films,” MIN said. Notwithstanding, making a remake is not an easy process in Korea or abroad. Its process is long and tough. Therefore, many filmmakers complain that it will be better to write an original script. However, remaking Latin American films still comes across as positive since the remaking processes naturally promotes cultural exchanges and enable Korean filmmakers a chance to export their films or sell remake rights to Latin America. Another good sign about the Latin American film market is that the Korean cultural wave is spreading over the region these days.