Yorgos Lanthimos, whose fascinating filmography includes Dogtooth and The Favourite, has filmed his follow-up to the Oscar-nominated Poor Things (pictured above). Kinds of Kindness, which stars Emma Stone, Margaret Qualley, Willem Dafoe and Joe Alwyn, is already in post-production. It’s reportedly a contemporary film—but after that, Lanthimos is going in a very different direction. He’s set to direct a remake of Save the Green Planet, a culty 2003 Korean film originally directed by Jang Joon-hwan.
As Variety explains, “The long-gestated project, which seems to be a perfect Lanthimos vehicle, is an eccentric black comedy involving a disillusioned young man who captures and tortures a businessman whom 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.”
Though that summary sounds sort of sci-fi, if anything, Save the Green Planet is frequently described as a “fantasy comedy,” which makes it something of a rare beast. A BBC review of the original said, “This energetically inventive, off-the-wall outing conceals a surprisingly powerful story about bereavement, corporate corruption and one man’s sense that the whole world is going to the dogs.”
The screenplay is by Will Tracy, who wrote The Menu and several episodes of Succession, and was a writer on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. And Stone, Lanthimos’ frequent star, is reportedly in talks to appear in the film, though Variety notes she would “likely play a supporting role.”
No premiere date has been announced, but the film is expected to begin filming this summer.
