The Chaser is a South Korean film that has just been bought up by Warner Brothers and already the buzz is that it's going to be following the route that The Deparated (Filmstalker review) did and become a major film for the studio.

Already William Monahan has signed up to write the script and the gossip is that Leonardo DiCaprio is looking to star in the film, although nothing has been signed, so it's a rumour at the moment probably just to try and make The Departed connection stretch out even more.

The best sign so far though is that William Monahan is scripting it, as he did so superbly well with the Americanisation of The Departed, and also that WB are behind it. That could well mean a very intelligent remake and relocation, with some strong positive changes, and a big budget and big name cast behind it.

However, do you really think that they can match the power and scale of The Departed? I'm not so sure they can, that was a really strong script and film and the original did have room for improvement as well as suiting itself well to the transformation to another country.

Variety tells us that the original The Chaser has earned more than US $20 million in twenty days of release and is loosely based on the story of a real life serial killer.

Unlike Infernal Affairs, which is the basis for The Departed remake, The Chaser isn't a cult classic and hasn't long been released, perhaps on that front it will allow for more leeway in the script changes and updates.