Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks is planning to remake Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s Like Father, Like Son, which Spielberg saw at the Cannes Film Festival back in May.
Deadline had previously reported the news back in August, but it has just now been confirmed by the studio. The site had reported that Spielberg may have been interested in directing the English remake himself, but later confirmed that the Lincoln director will not direct it himself.
The remake will be made with Fuji TV, which produced the original film. The Spielberg-led jury gave Like Father, Like Son the Cannes Jury Prize.
“When I saw the film at Cannes, I was so impressed by its power to bring such a human story to the screen. Here at DreamWorks Studios, Stacey and our team recognized that it was a story we wanted to remake to bring to our audiences throughout the world,” Spielberg said in a statement, notes The Hollywood Reporter. "I thank Hirokazu Kore-eda and Fuji TV for giving us this once in a lifetime opportunity."
Kore-eda said that he is looking forward to working with Spielberg on the American version.
The film centers on a young, wealthy couple who finds out that their 6-year-old son is not actually theirs and that their baby was switched at the hospital. They discover that their biological child is being raised by a family with lesser means and try to reconnect with their child.
Like Father, Like Son opens in Japan on Sept. 28.
image: WireImage/image.net