The hype may have died down, but
the mark on history is now indelible, with Bong Joon-ho and his South Korean
movie “Parasite” now the first non-English movie to win Best Picture at the
Academy Awards (in addition to Best Foreign Feature, Best Original Screenplay
and Best Director for Bong). In addition to the accolades, the film has also
done well in the Asia-regional box office for a start. It is therefore expected
that many other movie hounds would be interested in watching “Parasite” on
streaming. While it would be nice if the movie was made widely available,
exclusivity is the game these days, with “Parasite” going to one platform.
Variety tells us that Disney overall has taken charge of streaming
rights for “Parasite,” the little South Korean black comedy film that could and
did win a Best Picture Oscar earlier this month. To be specific, the streaming
rights for this film have been given exclusively to Hulu, originally a
multi-company joint venture but now majority-owned by the House of Mouse. Under
their full control the streaming service has been pushed as an alternative
platform for viewing digital content not fitting the family-friendly image of
Disney, such as “Parasite” now.
CJ Entertainment, which produced
and released “Parasite,” first granted overseas rights to distribute the movie outside
South Korea to Neon, an independent studio. Hulu in turn struck a licensing deal
with Neon, back in 2017 and lasting multiple years, wherein all the latter’s distributed
movies will find an exclusive streaming home with the former after their
premieres in cinemas, including Bong Joon-ho’s masterpiece now. Neon also saw
good returns from their theatrical and digital releases of “Parasite” in North
America, especially after its Academy Award victories spurred greater viewer interest.
The highly-recommended movie by
Bong Joon-ho chronicles the parallel lives of two families in Seoul, one wealthy
and influential, and the other not. The poor family pulls a con to have its
members be employed by the rich family, passing themselves off as unrelated
strangers with professional credentials. What follows is part comedy of errors
and a grim darkness said to reflect the income disparity of Koran families
today. Such a plot would not fly for a streaming on Disney’s recently-launched
Disney+ service, so it going to Hulu is understandable, seeing as eventually
the last original joint partner Comcast/NBCUniversal will be selling its share
to Disney for its complete ownership.
Hulu will start streaming “Parasite”
this coming April 8, 2020.
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