Miracle in cell no. 7an Indonesian remake of the 2013 comedy-drama directed by South Korean Lee Hwan-kyung, will have a sequel and an animated series adaptation from Indonesia's Falcon Pictures, after the first film achieved great success at the box office in 2022, ranking in fifth place in the national ranking. all-time box office rankings and selling 5.8 million movie tickets nationwide.
At a forum held Saturday at the Asia Contents and Film Market in Busan, the makers of the original and the remake spoke about the unusual collaboration between Asia's two largest film companies: Indonesia's Falcon Pictures and South Korea's Contents Panda. The Korean original, which garnered nearly 13 million viewers in theaters, had no sequel.
“A remake is an efficient way [to ensure] the success of a film,” says Danny Lee of Contents Panda, a subsidiary of major Korean distributor NEW. “We have already shown in Korea that the story worked.”
Contents Panda has seen successful international remakes with his other films. Train to Busanthe hit thriller about a family trapped on a train during a zombie outbreak has been remade into Timo Tjahjanto's film The last train to New York last year. The remake rights of Miracle in cell no. 7 they were also sold in Türkiye and the Philippines, and the remakes were modest box office successes in those countries. Miracle in cell no. 7 a remake of the Spanish film Rock and Ruz is also in production, starring the award-winning actor Mario Casas The invisible guest.
The partnership between Contents Panda and Falcon is following the travels of other Korean films to Southeast Asia for remakes. by CJ Entertainment Sunnya 2011 drama about a group of friends who reunite 20 years after graduating from high school, was remade by Indonesia's Miles Film. But the main attraction of South Korean content in that region was based on Korean dramas starring famous actors.
Miracle in cell no. 7 follows a mentally disabled father who is falsely accused of murder and sent to prison. The Indonesian adaptation mostly follows the original story with slight variations.
“We have localized the content by making the prisoners less dark,” said B Naveen, executive producer at Falcon Pictures. “We made it a little more fun [than the original] and the prisoners in the film were played by great Indonesian comedians.”
Falcon Pictures is also placing the film in an animated series directed by Daryl Wilson.
“It's very exciting to see the original film become a sequel and an animated spin-off,” says Lee. “It's a perfect example of collaboration between great manufacturers.”
The sequel to Miracle in cell no. 7 is expected to be released in Indonesian theaters at Christmas. The animated series, which will be featured in eight episodes, will be released nationwide after the film's release.