The upcoming English-language remake of 2016's South Korean horror-flick, Train to Busan, titled The Last Train to New York, has finally been given a confirmed release date. Releasing in South Korean theatres in July of 2016, the film went on to become an overwhelming success for the director, Yeon Sang-ho, who was able to expand the universe further in the standalone sequel, Peninsula, and the animated prequel, Seoul Station. The film features a star-studded cast, including Gong Yoo, Kim Su-an, Ma Dong-seok, Jung Yu-mi, Choi Woo-shik, Ahn So-hee, Kim Eui-sung, Choi Gwi-hwa, and Jang Hyuk-jin, amongst others.
Train to Busan follows a group of passengers on a high-speeding train headed to Busan just as a sudden zombie virus breaks out in South Korea, triggering a zombie apocalypse and threatening the safety of all on board. Whilst most of the survivors are fully explored, the film specifically follows Seok-Woo and his estranged daughter on their trip to visit his wife on their daughter's birthday. The critical and financial success of the film not only made it popular in South Korea but in many other regions, so much so that an English-language remake was announced to be in developed four years after the original's initial release.
Per Warner Bros., the remake was finally announced to have a confirmed release date that will hopefully be exclusively in movie theatres. This date was confirmed to be April 21, 2023, looking ahead to a spring release that will potentially be around the other side of the pandemic.
Upon the announcement of a remake of such a favorite, many fans of the horror genre undoubtedly became worried due to the mostly negative track record of remakes of classic titles in the past. Genre staples such as Friday the 13th, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Child's Play have all received remakes over the years, with most of them being critically panned and considered inferior to the originals. Furthermore, English-language remakes have been held to a similar degree with films such as Dark Water and The Uninvited being considered much worse than the originals.
With the remake finally being given a release date, audiences can rest assured that the development of the film will begin rushing ahead in order to meet it. Furthermore, being in the hands of such icons of the horror genre, it can be assumed that the film will not disappoint and will instead be successful alongside the original film. In anticipation of the upcoming adaptation, audiences can currently catch Train to Busan on streaming services, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube Movies, Vudu, and Apple TV.
Source: Warner Bros.