How to Watch The Eye Movie

How do you improve your movie's chance of success? Remake one that's already proven itself. And with Tom Cruise's remake of "The Eye" (2008), based on a 2002 Chinese horror blockbuster, we see Hollywood continuing its love affair with Asian genre cinema that's already raked in the big bucks with hits such as Martin Scorcese's "The Departed" (2006), Walter Salles' "Dark Water" (2005), Takashi Shimizu's "The Grudge" (2004) and Gore Verbinski's "The Ring" (2002). Here's how producer Cruise, and his star, Jessica Alba, gave the movie, known in China as "Seeing Ghosts," a Hollywood makeover and what you need to know about Asia's growing influence on local cinema.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Movie ticket
• Bag of popcorn
• Soda or Icee

1. Take no chances. Tom Cruise and his producing partner, Paula Wagner, weren't sweating about success when they bought the remake rights to the Pang Brothers' original 2002 Hong Kong film, The Eye. Not only had the film been a huge success in China--and been favorably received in the U.S. after a limited, subtitled release--but it had also spawned two sequels by the Pangs in China, "The Eye 2" and "The Eye 10," as well as an Indian remake of the story in 2005 called "Naina." The success of the Chinese movie is almost certainly due to its creepy original storyline about a blind young girl who begins to see visions fortelling gruesome deaths after she has a corneal transplant to fix her sight. The Pang Brothers, Danny and Oxide, say they were inspired to write the story by a report they had seen in a Hong Kong newspaper about a 16-year-old girl who had committed suicide after she had undergone a corneal transplant. "We'd always wondered what the girl saw when she regained her eyesight finally," Oxide said, "and what actually made her want to end her life."
2. She's coming to get you in the original Ringu Know that success breeds success. Since the start of the 21st Century, an "Asian Invasion" in American film has brought previously unprecedented levels of talent and movie vision across the Pacific. None of this was coincidence, of course, as many of these films were smash hits in their home countries. For instance, not only was the original "Ringu" (1998) the highest grossing horror film in Japan at 15.9 billion yen (137.7 million), it's also considered one of the most frightening films in Japanese cinematic history, based on a study by Oricron. Naturally, Hollywood saw that success and made the decision to try to rekindle it here in the States--a development that American audiences ate up like a tasty bag of M&Ms. The distributor behind "The Ring" remake, Dreamworks, grossed $129 million in the U.S. and another $120 million in foreign sales, bringing total worldwide box office receipts to just short of a quarter billion. When you consider that the film had a budget of $48 million, even a blind woman like "The Eye's" Sydney Wells (Alba) could see the implications of this business trend. In the past six years, the number of Asian horror-genre remakes of movies from China, Japan and South Korea has jumped exponentially. And it's important to note that horror isn't the only genre getting American-updates these days. While Asian-born action and martial arts films have been localized in the U.S. for decades, one recently earned Martin Scorsese his first Oscar for "The Departed", a remake of the Chinese-produced "Mou gaan dou" (Infernal Affairs).
3. Follow the herd. Cinematic adoption is a worldwide phenomenon. It isn't just American studios that are remaking successful 'J-Horror' (Japan) or 'C-Horror' (China) films. The same technique is being used by other nations (even within Asia) around the world. Case in point, there was also a South Korean remake of "Ringu" titled "The Ring Virus", which represented the first ever joint film-making venture between Japan and Korea. In addition to the Indian recreation of "The Eye" ("Naina"), a remake of "Dark Water" is slated to hit Indian theaters in 2009. And this is a country known for its Bollywood musicals...
4. Danny & Oxide Pang on the set of The Messengers Bring along the creators. The original creators behind these Asian films have also had an impact in the aforementioned remakes. Iconic Japanese film director Hideo Nakata, who created the original "Ringu" and "Dark Water" films, crossed the ocean and played a part in the new local versions of both series. Nakata was head screenwriter for the "Water" remake--starring Jennifer Connelly--and even directed the American sequel "Ring Two", which ironically enough isn't based on its Japanese counterpart. The Pang Brothers, who are twins, directed the original version of "The Eye" for Chinese audiences back in 2002 but have since moved on to America to direct last year's "The Messengers." They're also directing "Bangkok Dangerous," a story of a deaf-mute hitman and his partner, starring Nicholas Cage, which is in turn a remake of their own 1999 creation of the same title. In nearly all cases, the studios are engaging in safe business practices by hiring the original creators to oversee the local remakes. Who better to lead your remake than the men responsible for the success of the original source material?
5. Takako Fuji playing Yūrei Kayako Sae in Ju-On (The Grudge). You'll never go wrong with a scary story. Audiences love ghost stories and folk stories, which happens to be one reason why this Asian remake phenomenon is taking place. In an era where some audiences are getting sick of the whole "torture-porn" horror movie, a lot of these Asian-based folk stories find receptive audiences in the U.S. Dracula, born from vampyric European folklore, has terrified western viewers for nearly a century and we're now ready to accept--and purchase movie tickets for--the same sense of terror from other cultures. J-horror primarily centers on psychological horror and tension building techniques, particularly involving ghosts and poltergeists. Many subplots contain themes involving folk religion--possession, exorcism, shamanism, precognition and yōkai. Yūrei are Japanese ghosts, ones who have been bound to the physical world through strong--and traumatic--emotions which do not allow them to pass on. Depending on the emotion that binds them, they manifest as a particular type of ghost. Most common to J-Horror is the onryō, a yūrei bound by a desire for vengeance. These yūrei stories may be new to western audiences but they've been whispered at bedtime and fireside chats for centuries in Japan.
6. Angelica Lee in the original Eye film Make it local. To get good box office results it's a wise move to localize the original movie script. Although a number of subtitled movies have done well in the U.S., when producers what to see real profits they know it's always safer to have an immediately recognizable location, cast and terms of reference for their potential audience. With the American update of "The Eye," the original story remains the same, but almost everything else has been moved to Los Angeles and given an American makeover. The original 2002 film starred Angelica Lee who won numerous "Best Actress" awards for the movie. She got another prize too in that she snagged the director, Oxide Pang, and then went on to make many sweet movies together. In "The Eye," she plays the blind classical violinist named Mun, who undergoes a corneal transplant. Actress Chutcha Rujinanon appeared in the movie as Ling, who donates the corneas. Lawrence Chou played Dr. Wah and Candy Lo was Yee, Mun's sister. The Pang Brothers directed the project and it hit Hong Kong theaters on May 9, 2002. Tom Cruises' 2008 version changes the main character's name to Sydney Wells (Alba) but she remains an accomplished concert violinist. She too undergoes the corneal transplant procedure. Parker Posey as Helen, Sydney's sister, Alessandro Nivola as the surgeon, Dr. Paul Faulkner, and Chloe Moretz as the donor, round out the American cast. The film was directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud, and publicity says Sebastian Gutierrez did the new "America-updated" screenplay.
7. Alba doesn't like what she sees in The Eye. Whip up the psychobabble to give your horror remake a philosophical backbone. According to the press release from Lionsgate, "The Eye" is not just another horror flick but a "bone-chilling supernatural thriller that tests the boundaries of perception and reality." Yeah right! The typical Hollywood press release for "The Eye" builds up the excitement: "As our story opens, Sydney undergoes a double corneal transplant, a surgery she has waited her whole life to have, and her sight is restored." "But Sydney's happiness is short-lived as unexplainable shadowy and frightening images start to haunt her. Are they a passing aftermath of her surgery, Sydney's mind adjusting to sight, a product of her imagination, or something horrifyingly real? As Sydney's family and friends begin to doubt her sanity, Sydney is soon convinced that her anonymous eye donor has somehow opened the door to a terrifying world only she can now see."
8. Naomi Watts finishes her contract in The Ring Two. Sequels make business sense. If you believe your remake movie is going to be a box office success, make sure there are sequel possiblities. Luckily for Cruise and Wagner, "The Eye" has a proven record in this regard since the Pang Brothers followed up their initial success with two more "Eye" stories. Of the first sequel, Oxide Pang said "It is quite different than the first film. It's not your typical horror movie. There will be a number of shocking images just like in the original, but this time we'll take it one step beyond." The second sequel took an entirely new direction. "The third EYE will actually be called THE EYE 10," Pang said, "and it will be about 10 ways to see a ghost. It will be a pretty funny film." Of course Hollywood may just riff on the "Eye" title and come up with a new story line, as they did with the Ring sequels, since the Pang's sequels didn't enjoy as much success as their very original offering. "The Ring 3", set to hit theaters in 2009, will have "a new fresh story" according to producer Roy Lee and will not star Naomi Watts, who only contracted to do one sequel.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't jump the couch when attempting to make a movie. Tom Cruise had some problems with Paramount Studios after studio owner Sumner Redstone complained publicly about his wildly exuberant public behaviour. As a result, during pre-production of "The Eye," Cruise's contract with Paramount ended abruptly and he moved on to United Artists. Before the lead players in the deal parted ways, Paramount was set to back "The Eye" remake with Renee Zelwegger as Sydney Wells and famed "Ringu" director Hideo Nakata. When the deal fell throught, the film was picked up by muscular distributor Lionsgate, with Paramount's indie branch, Paramount Vantage, as co-producer.