Mohanlal's 'Drishyam' goes for Hollywood remake after Chinese release
‘Drishyam’, a hit crime thriller, which was remade in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, and even Chinese, is now all set to be remade in English
‘Drishyam’, a hit crime thriller, which was remade in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, and even Chinese, is now going to get a Hollywood version, as per a report in Variety.
The original film was made in 2013 in Malayalam, and was written and directed by Jeethu Joseph.
This small-budget film went on to become a runaway hit and even spawned a sequel. The film revolves around a cable TV operator and video cassete shop owner, Georgekutty (Mohanlal) and his family, who are suspected of being involved in the disappearance of Varun Prabhakar, the son of the IG of police, Geetha Prabhakar. How Georgekutty manages to get his family out of the trouble by using his native intelligence forms the core of the film.
Remade in four languages
The success of the film led to remakes in four Indian languages: 'Drishya' (2014) in Kannada, 'Drushyam' (2014) in Telugu, 'Papanasam' (2015) in Tamil, and 'Drishyam' (2015) in Hindi.
A 'Drishyam 2' in Hindi too appeared with Ajay Devgn and Tabu in the lead roles, which grossed over $43 million worldwide.
International remakes
Panorama Studios, which produced the Hindi version for Viacom18 Motion Pictures, has bagged the international remake rights to 'Drishyam 1 & 2' from the original producers, Aashirvad Cinemas. They are signing multiple international versions.
In May last year, a Korean remake was finalised, while a deal for a Spanish language celluloid edition is also close to being finalised.
In 2019, 'Sheep Without a Shepherd', a Chinese version, that was not produced by Panorama, was a $200 million-grossing hit.
Panorama Studios however plans to produce ‘Drishyam’ in 10 countries in the next three to five years.
JOAT, which will co-produce the Hollywood version along with another US company Gulfstream Pictures, was founded by former Warner Bros. production executive in Asia, Jack Nguyen. It specialises in cross-territorial local language remakes. Calling it a "unique yet enduring story", Nguyen described it to 'Variety', as a film that combines "drama, emotional highs and lows in a riveting cat and mouse tale".
