We haven’t been getting very much news about the long-planned remake of Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy, other than that Josh Brolin has signed on to play the lead and that Colin Firth has been offered the role of the villain, but today First Showing gives us a few words from producer Roy Lee, who had a few things to say about the upcoming film.
Since many fans are familiar with the original film, Lee spoke about how the upcoming adaptation will be different:
“This is a completely new version written by Mark Protosevich. It’s very similar, but we’ve added new elements. Or, Mark Protosevich has come up with new elements to it that will throw off the audience who have seen the original movie because there are new characters and new situations that present themselves in a way that changes the story but eventually go in the same direction.”
Lee also touched a bit on the ending, not saying whether it will be faithful to the original film or the manga, but rather that it “will be something that the audiences will all be, especially the fans of the original, will be very happy with. In fact, some may consider it to be a bit darker.”
Having just rewatched the original film yesterday, I can only imagine what he means by the ending being “a bit darker.” I don’t want to get into any spoilers, but the original’s ending was pretty dark, so to go beyond that would be to make a strange film even stranger, which just might be a good thing depending on what they have planned. I. for one, am looking forward to seeing what direction this remake is going to take and how different it’s going to be. It sounds like there could be some interesting surprises in store.
The remake, which is to be directed by Spike Lee, currently has no release date.
What do you guys think? Are you on board with this remake? Do you like what you’re hearing so far? Let us know in the comments.
Published: Nov 28, 2011 08:51 pm