I came across a great interview with Bruce McKenna, the head writer and showrunner for the epic HBO series THE PACIFIC (and a writer for BAND OF BROTHERS). Totally worth a read.
But at the end of the interview, they ask him if he would like to move on to the Korean War next. And this is what he said:
HitFix: Do you think, though, that if this works out as well for HBO as they’re obviously hoping, that they’re going to go looking for that next war? Are we off to Korea next? Do we skip ahead and do Vietnam?
Bruce McKenna: I don’t know. We’ll see how well “The Pacific” does. I think it will do well. For me personally, the one war story that I would write is the story of the Chosin Reservoir. The Korean War is the forgotten war. Forget the Pacific, nobody knows anything about Korea. It’s a Marine story and it’s quite moving. Whether HBO does it or not, I hope they do. They did “Generation Kill” and I think something on Korea would be a great idea.
HitFix: Does that feel like another miniseries to you? Can you even think in a two-hour format anymore or are you stuck thinking in 10-hour blocks?
BM: Believe me, I think in whatever format they’re willing to pay me to write. The Chosin Reservoir would be a better movie than a miniseries, because it was a very contained event. Now Korea? That’s a miniseries.
So perhaps it is not likely at this stage. But just the thought that someone like McKenna would like to tackle the Korean War is a nice thought. Maybe we will get lucky some day.
The Korean War presents itself in very neat blocks: the liberation of Korea and the forces that led to division, the beginnings of the war itself and the North Koreans’ push nearly all the way to Pusan, the US-led UN forces coming to the rescue, the Inchon Landing, the push through Seoul and up into North Korean territory, the eventual push back, and the dragged out stalemate that lasted two years beyond that. That’s six, seven, or possibly eight blocks that all could be told in a one- or two-hour format.
One wonders, though, how Korean audiences would respond. It certainly wouldn’t be anything like Korean depictions of that conflict… as there would be non-Koreans actually fighting against North Korean and Chinese forces. (To watch some South Korean depictions, especially the most prominent recent ones, you’d think the only people who fought in the war were Koreans.)
Which leaves me very curious how (South) Korean audiences would respond.