Bong Joon Ho’s ‘The Host’ Returns to Theaters in 4K With Exclusive Edgar Wright Conversation
Twenty years after its original release, Bong Joon Ho’s The Host is returning to theaters with a new 4K restoration, giving audiences another opportunity to see the Korean filmmaker’s creature feature on the big screen.
The newly remastered edition will open in theaters nationwide on November 20 and will include an exclusive conversation between Bong and filmmaker Edgar Wright. A new trailer has also been released ahead of the anniversary theatrical run.
Directed and written by Bong, The Host stars longtime collaborator Song Kang-ho alongside Ko A-sung. The film centers on Gang-du (Song), who works at a food stand along Seoul’s Han River and lives with his daughter, Hyun-seo (Ko).
Their lives are disrupted when a crowd gathering along the river witnesses a mysterious creature emerge from the water. The situation quickly turns deadly as the creature attacks people along the riverbank, sending Gang-du and Hyun-seo fleeing with the crowd.
During the chaos, Hyun-seo is taken by the creature and disappears into the river. Authorities subsequently announce that the creature may be carrying an unidentified virus and impose restrictions around the affected area.
Believing his daughter may have been killed, Gang-du receives an unexpected phone call from Hyun-seo revealing that she is still alive. He then sets out to enter the restricted area surrounding the Han River in an attempt to find and rescue her.
Released in South Korea in 2006, The Host became one of the films that helped expand Bong’s international profile well before the filmmaker reached another level of global recognition with Parasite. The film combined the structure of a monster movie with a family-centered story while incorporating elements of horror, comedy and social commentary.
The film also continued Bong’s working relationship with Song, who previously starred in the director’s Memories of Murder and would later appear in Snowpiercer and Parasite.
The 20th-anniversary restoration brings the creature feature back to theaters two decades after audiences were first introduced to its Han River monster. The accompanying conversation with Wright adds a new component to the theatrical presentation, pairing Bong with the director behind Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Last Night in Soho for a discussion surrounding the film.
The release arrives as Bong’s earlier work continues to receive renewed theatrical and home-video attention, with The Host remaining a significant entry in both his filmography and 21st-century Korean genre cinema.
Bong Joon Ho’s newly restored 4K presentation of The Host opens in theaters nationwide November 20, accompanied by the exclusive conversation between Bong and Edgar Wright.
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