Spike Lee Confirmed to Take Over OldBoy Remake
Posted 07.12.11 by Ryan
Back in 2008, director Steven Spielberg was planning to helm an adaptation of Oldboy with Will Smith as the lead. Instead, Spike Lee will take over as director, ComingSoon reports.
Oldboy was originally created in the mid 1990s as a Japanese manga series written by Garon Tsuchiya and illustrated by Nobuaki Minegishi. Director Chan-wook Park was the first to adapt the story into the acclaimed 2003 South Korean movie of the same name which won the the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Before Spielberg's version was canceled, it was reported that the director was going back to the original manga for the script, and would not remake Park's movie.
Oldboy is a revenge story that follows a man who is imprisoned on his daughter's birthday, and, when he is released 15 years later, seeks revenge on those that destroyed his life. Park's version included a dark and grisly twist at the end that wasn't in the comic book, something Spielberg was obviously keen to avoid. How much of Park's version Lee and screenwriter Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend) plan to use is unknown.
No casting decisions or release date have been announced. The movie will be Lee's first directorial effort since 2008's Miracle at St. Anna.