Is THE CHASER being setup as the next DEPARTED?

WB pay big bucks to remake the surprise South Korean smash hit thriller with THE DEPARTED duo Leonardo DiCaprio and writer William Monahan in early talks.

By Matt Holmes /

Warner Bros. have secured a big money deal to remake the surprise South Korean smash hit thriller The Chaser for the Western movie audience, with writer William Monahan and actor/producer Leonardo DiCaprio in early talks. This of course brings the great aura of The Departed about it, as both Monaghan and DiCaprio worked on that Asian remake which won the Academy Award back in 2007 (as did Monahan for best screenplay adaptation).

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The deal was said to be $1 million up front for the remake rights plus more incentives if it were to perform well at the box office. In it's homeland, film has so far grossed $20 million after 20 days of release on what was a very modest budget. The film is based loosely on the exploits of a real-life serial killer, played by Ha Jung-woo (Never Forever). You know, if every Asian remake was as good as Scorsese's The Departed, maybe I wouldn't get so worked up about them all the time. And both the title "The Chaser" and the above photo with an actor in a cap, certainly gives you the feeling of that movie. This could be good! Here is the trailer for the movie, sorry I couldn't find an English version...

source - variety