I wasn’t as huge a fan of The Host as most critics were, but there's no denying it was a uniquely bizarre and funny monster movie—I mean, junk food was a major plot point, and a scene of mourning turned into slapstick comedy. Bong Joon-Ho’s movie is getting the sequel treatment, even though the director won’t be returning the second time around. It’s looking now though, like this is going to be a prequel instead.
TwitchFilm is reporting that the next movie will take place three years before the beginning of the first one, after the excavation of the ancient Cheonggye Stream in Seoul. In usual sequel tradition, there will be even more monsters this time around. The directing will be done by Korean comic book artist Kang Full, and shooting begins later this year.
I’m all for sequels, especially sequels of movies that were somewhat good, but this is a little fishy to me. The Host contained a whole little prequel of its own, beginning in a lab where an evil American research scientist dumped harmful chemicals into Seoul’s waterways. I mean, that’s your origin tale right there. If we’re beginning three years earlier, before these chemicals got dumped, we’re dealing with totally different monsters that have nothing to do with the original baddie. I could go full-out nerd and whine about their departure from the original mythology, but I’ll leave it to the Host fanatics to do that for me.
It’s possible this could be a movie worth making, but it seems like they’re stretching it a little bit to make a viable prequel. Personally I’d rather see what happened to the rest of those toxic chemicals—there are probably some sea turtles out there ready to kick some serious ass.
