An upcoming remake of celebrated South Korean zombie thriller Train to Busan has found the director in Indonesia’s own Timo Tjahjanto.
This exciting news comes only hours after the trailer for the Mortal Kombat reboot, starring Indonesian action superstar Joe Taslim as the villain Sub-Zero, dropped at midnight.
As reported by entertainment industry outlet Deadline, the project will be produced by James Wan for New Line Cinema, who’s also the producer for the new Mortal Kombat movie. Gary Dauberman, who penned The Conjuring Universe films and The Nun, will be writing the script.
Timo, who specializes in genres like horror, action, and everything-bloody-in-between, has confirmed his appointment to the Train to Busan remake — while also promising not to disappoint fans of the OG film.
Nothing is ever gonna top the OG : TRAIN TO BUSAN, a beloved horror in which I bawled my eyes out (never happened since Amenabar’s The Others ).
Having said that James, Gary & I made an absolute oath : Don’t disrespect & disappoint the fans.
And yeah..punk rock. pic.twitter.com/2NcKBz2oBk— Timo Tjahjanto (@Timobros) February 19, 2021
The original Train To Busan film, which was released in 2016 to critical acclaim, told the story of the survival of passengers onboard a train from Seoul to Busan amid a zombie apocalypse that suddenly broke out in South Korea. Directed by Yeon Sang-ho — who also helmed its standalone sequel Peninsula (2020) — the film stars a number of top Korean actors such as Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, and Ma Dong-seok AKA Don Lee, who’s set to appear in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Eternals.
Timo debuted in 2007 with slasher/black comedy short Dara which he co-directed with Kimo Stamboel, who he met during his film studies in Australia. The duo, nicknamed The Mo Brothers, followed up with the debut feature film titled Rumah Dara (Dara’s House, released internationally as Macabre) in 2009, based on the short film. The Mo Brothers went on to make action flicks Killers in 2014 and Headshot, which premiered in Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2016, before parting ways in 2018.
Timo’s recent works include Indonesia’s first Netflix original The Night Comes For Us in 2018 and Sebelum Iblis Menjemput (international title: May The Devil Take You) in that same year and its sequel, released in early 2020. He’s set to direct and write the upcoming adaptation of Si Buta Dari Gua Hantu, which is part of the Bumilangit Cinematic Universe (BCU), Indonesia’s own superhero franchise.
His other works include a segment titled L is for Libido in American anthology horror comedy film The ABCs of Death, which was released in 2012. In June of last year, Timo was announced to return for the fourth installment of V/H/S horror anthology series, with a working title of V/H/S 94. He previously directed a short in V/H/S/2 titled Safe Haven along with The Raid director Gareth Huw Evans.
