‘Miracle In Cell No. 7’ team talk sequel and adaptations at Busan event

The Indonesian team behind hit drama Miracle In Cell No. 7, a remake of the 2013 South Korean film of the same name, are going a step beyond the original by creating a sequel and an animated spinoff.

The filmmaking team, producers Falcon Pictures and Korean rights­holder Contents Panda (NEW) discussed adapting the Korean feature for Indonesia as well as upcoming projects on a panel at the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) on Saturday (October 5).

The sequel, 2nd Miracle In Cell Block No. 7, will open in Indonesian cinemas on December 25. The initial remake, released in September 2022, recorded 5.86 million admissions and is Indonesia’s sixth highest-grossing film of all time. Like the South Korean original, it is the story of an intellectually disabled man wrongly sent to prison for murder and his relationship with his daughter, played by Graciella Abigail.

“The main theme is family, so it can touch everyone’s heart. It’s the perfect example of the kind of film that works well globally,” said executive producer HB Naveen of Falcon Pictures, describing why he bought rights to remake the original.

In adapting the South Korean film for an Indonesian audience, Naveen said his team kept the core story and ending, but “made ours a bit more funny”, in part by casting comedians as the protagonist’s cellmates.

Lee Hwan-kyung’s original was also a hit, attracting 12.8 million admissions when it was released in South Korea in January 2013. That proven track record, according to shared rights-holder Danny Lee, EVP of Contents Panda (NEW), helps explain why the original also spawned remakes in Turkey and the Philippines.

Lee shared that remake plans are also in the works for an Indian version as well as in Spain and the Middle East. “But Indonesia is a new test case,” he added. “I never even thought about a sequel or animation.”

“We felt the first film was not a full stop,” said Naveen. “What happens to the little girl? That’s the reason we made the sequel.” The producer also shared a video montage of Indonesian audiences reacting emotionally to the film, and said: “There’s so much love there, why wouldn’t you want to do a sequel?”

Screenwriter Alim Sudio, who wrote both the remake and its sequel, described the process of writing the new film as “not easy at all, because I couldn’t imagine making a sequel from a remake”. He shared that he eventually hit on the idea of making it “both a sequel and a prequel, answering questions like how the daughter’s parents became a couple”.

The upcoming feature is led by Herwin Novianto, a new director to the franchise, who said his main challenges were trying to surpass the 2022 original while balancing the sequel and prequel elements.

Producer Frederica said the success of their initial remake had increased the budget for 2nd Miracle In Cell Block No. 7, allowing for the entire prison set to be rebuilt in the studio. Frederica shared that Lee Hwan-kyung, the director of the South Korean original, has been supportive of the project.

The team also shared a preview of the CG animated series, comprising eight 22-minute episodes, which is set to be released after the sequel. Daryl Wilson, CEO of Kumata Animation Studio, pinpointed the “love of the main character for his daughter” and the story’s “comedic slapstick possibilities” as the lodestars for his animated version. He added that translating the actors’ movements and expressions for animation was the project’s biggest challenge.

Falcon CEO Naveen hinted a third instalment could be in the works: “If we can make people cry like [the original film] again, I’ll definitely fight for another sequel.”

Matt Schley