New York Comic-Con is going on right now — and I’m not there! It’s probably for the best. Thankfully, a lot of the content at NYCC shows up online as well, so if you’re like me and couldn’t make it, you can still check out things at home. One thing I saw that seemed particularly cool was the NYCC poster for Oldboy. I’m still not sure how the movie itself will turn out, but the marketing for it has been pretty interesting. It’s arriving November 27th so I guess it won’t be long until we find out how Spike Lee has interpreted Park Chan-wook’s classic! Check out the full poster below. Read more…
Spike Lee, I don’t know exactly what’s going on here. Your first trailer for Oldboy has arrived, and it makes me a little confused. On one hand, this seems pretty solid, with just the right amount of homage to the original film. On there other, I just can’t help but wonder how any changes will affect the story. From what we’ve heard from test screenings, it sounds like the “most important” parts of the story stay the same (if you’ve seen the film you know what I mean). So I suppose that’s good news. I just have conflicting emotions over this! And why does Josh Brolin look like Jim Carrey on the poster?! Watch the red band trailer below. Read more…
It looks like Spike Lee’s version of Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy is getting closer and closer to being real. FilmDistrict picked up the film today, the same company that released Drive (on of my favorite films last year). We also have finally gotten the cast double-triple-super confirmed, so no more rumors here: Josh Brolin will play the main character, Elizabeth Olsen, the young woman he meets, and Sharlto Copley will be the villain. Samuel L. Jackson and Nate Parker have also been confirmed to have roles. Along with all this, the press release included a small synopsis of the film, and it seems to follow the original’s story fairly well, with a few minor changes. I don’t know if I should be interested, excited, or wary. Read more…
Two new pieces of news are floating around regarding Spike Lee’s remake of Park Chan-Wook’s film Oldboy. While Josh Brolin had been confirmed to be playing the leading man (Dae-su), several other important parts were left un-cast. However now we have two names popping up: Clive Owen is being offered the role of the villain (Woo-jin), and Mia Wasikowska the role of the lead female (Mi-do). I think Clive Owen is a perfect choice, and I love him as an actor. He simply needs more roles to breathe in, and this could be a great part for him. Read more…
Good news!According to filmschoolrejects.com it seems that Will Smith has stated that the American version of Oldboy won’t be based on the Korean film but instead based on the original manga. This will come as good news to fanboys that were worried that Steven Spielberg (or any American company) wouldn’t be able to capture the graphic nature of the original Korean film.
Oldboy (올드보이) was a popular 2003 revenge film from Korea which was based on a Japanese manga by the same (オールド・ボーイ) written by Nobuaki Minegishi and Garon Tsuchiya which ran from 1996 until 1998. Now normally I’m 100% against Hollywood remakes, but in this case I’ll make an exception. I think if Spielberg tackles Oldboy that it might popularize and open the door for more Asian cinema to come to the United States. And if he can get a popular actor like Will Smith involved that would be a real cherry on top:
“Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are in early discussions to collaborate on a remake of Chan Wook-park’s “Oldboy.” DreamWorks is in the process of securing the remake rights, and the new pic will be distributed by Universal. In the 2003 Korean original, a man gets kidnapped and held in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. Suddenly, he’s released and given money, a cell phone and clothes and is set on a path to discover who destroyed his life so he can take revenge.”
