Parasite made history at the Oscars as the first South Korean film—and the first foreign-language film—ever to win best picture, but the tragicomic story about a working-class family who infiltrates the lives of a rich clan isn’t quite over yet. Even before taking home the triumvirate of best picture, best director (for the resplendent Bong Joon Ho), and best original screenplay, Parasite already had a TV adaptation in the works at HBO, to be helmed by Bong and Succession executive producer Adam McKay (who knows a thing or two about scheming families). With the film’s Oscar sweep sparking heightened excitement, here’s what we know so far about the Parasite TV show.
Parasite will likely be a limited series that expands on the film.
Look for the HBO series to allow Bong, who will adapt and executive produce with McKay, to go deeper on the characters and plots in the film about class tensions. “There were so many stories that I thought of that could happen in between the sequences you see in the film, and some background stories for each character,” Bong told the Hollywood Reporter. “I really wanted to explore those ideas freely with a five- or six-hour film.”
One example Bong offered to the Wrap: “When the original housekeeper, Mun Gwang (Lee Jung Eun), comes back in the late night, something happened to her face. Even her husband asked about it, but she never answered. I know why she had the bruises on her face.... I have all these hidden stories that I have stored.”
Mark Ruffalo may or may not be joining the cast.
The Oscar nominee and Hulk star could play a lead in the limited series, according to a Collider report. In a statement, HBO said the series “is in the early stages of development, and to speculate on any characters or casting is wildly premature.” But Ruffalo didn’t deny the buzz in a spontaneous TMZ interview on Monday. “I’d be honored to be able to play something,” he said.
The TV adaptation was hotly in demand.
At the outset of awards season, with Parasite already considered one of the hottest films of last year, Bong was “heavily courted by streamers, including Netflix,” Deadline reported. But Bong chose to go with McKay, an Oscar winner himself (best adapted screenplay for The Big Short), and HBO, the studio with a long track record of successful limited series (from Big Little Lies to Band of Brothers), following a reported “fierce bidding war with Netflix” for the series.
There isn’t a release date or trailer yet.
The series is in very early stages right now, but stay tuned.
Parasite isn’t the only one of Bong’s movies coming to TV.
The TV series based on Snowpiercer, the director’s 2013 sci-fi action movie set in a futuristic frozen wasteland, premieres in May on TNT, starring Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs of Hamilton fame and executive-produced by the now Oscar-winning director. All in favor of a total Bong takeover of Hollywood?