The Host | |
---|---|
Korean name | |
Hangul | |
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Gwoemul |
McCune–Reischauer | Koemul |
Directed by | Bong Joon-ho |
Written by |
|
Produced by | Choi Yong-bae |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Kim Hyung-koo |
Edited by | Kim Sun-min |
Music by | Lee Byung-woo |
Production company | Chungeorahm Films |
Distributed by | Showbox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 119 minutes |
Country | South Korea |
Languages | Korean English |
Budget | ₩11.8 billion (US$11 million) |
Box office | US$90 million[1] |
The Host (Korean: 괴물; Hanja: 怪物; RR: Gwoemul; lit. Monster) is a 2006 South Korean epic monster film directed and co-written by Bong Joon-ho. Starring Song Kang-ho, Byun Hee-bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Doona and Go Ah-sung, it tells the story of a monster that kidnaps a man's daughter, and his attempts to rescue her.
In 2000, Bong began conceptualizing a new monster movie inspired by a widely reported scandal, in which an American commanded his Korean employees to dispose of formaldehyde down a drain, which ended up in the Han River. He proposed the film roughly two years later and started writing the script with Ha Joon-won in 2003; Baek Chul-hyun joined the pair to revise scripting for the film in December 2004. The film was shot on a budget of ₩11.8 billion (US$11 million), with most sequences filmed on location near the Han River. New Zealand company Wētā Workshop modeled the film's creature and the American studio The Orphanage handled its visual effects.
The Host premiered on a record number of screens in its home country on July 27, 2006, and became the highest-grossing South Korean film in history upon its release. The film obtained critical acclaim, grossed US$90 million worldwide, and won several awards, including Best Film at the Asian Film Awards and the Blue Dragon Film Awards. Thus, a sequel and American remake were put forward, but neither ultimately ever came to fruition.