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Mandate Pictures just announced that Spike Lee will direct Oldboy, a remake of the cult 2003 South Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook that won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Mark Protosevich has adapted the screenplay and will co-produce; Roy Lee and Doug Davison will produce via Vertigo Entertainment with Lee’s 40 Acres & A Mule. Mandate president Nathan Kahane will executive produce. Lee and Protosevich are repped by CAA. Dan Freedman, SVP business affairs, negotiated the deals for Mandate. This is the project that Steven Spielberg and Will Smith were looking to collaborate on back in 2008, with DreamWorks seeking the remake rights at the time. The film originally was set up at Universal before Mandate took over. The story centers on a man who is kidnapped on his daughter’s birthday and held for 15 years in solitary confinement without explanation. He is eventually released and sets out on a path to take revenge on those who destroyed his life.
Spike Lee To Direct ‘Oldboy’ For Mandate
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sooo… is Will Smith still gonna do this as originally planned?
spiked lee is a has been. next.
I second that & why have him remake Oldboy when he has no vision what so ever!
as brilliant as the original is, this is a terrible idea. it is not adaptable. there’s a reason it has been avoided and passed around for so long. the big reveal won’t work for our market and no big actor would touch that anyway; but to remove or change the twist would look impotent. it’s a a damned if you do/don’t situation. best of luck.
Everything is adaptable if you are smart. Even the original manga on which Oldboy is based.
True, but I wouldn’t call this group “smart”.
If by “this group” you mean the rest of the people posting here, I couldn’t agree more. (but I don’t think that’s what you mean)
If by “this group”, you mean Spielberg, Lee and Protosevich, yeah what a buncha do-nuthins’.
Without the twist at the end, this movie is just Death Wish 6. No American director has the guts to do thetwist of the original film.
I agree with you completely. Spike Lee in the 80s, MIGHT have tried it but not 2011 Spike Lee. As much as I loved the original, I think this is a pass unless I see or know that this will be equally cutting edge or out-of-the-box.
I agree about the reveal being maybe too tough to handle by the US market. The ending is so shocking that when I heard Will Smith was circling the remake, I for SURE thought that the ending would change. I don’t think he would ever risk going in the same direction that original film went. Too risky for a super star like Will Smith. My opinion, they wanted to change the ending but the new version wasn’t as great.
The original film is really good but the thing though is that the reveal makes the film REALLY AWESOME. It’s the ultimate revenge movie with what seems to be the usual cat and mouse type but with this ending, the person you thought was the cat becomes the mouse and the person you thought was the mouse becomes the cat. Anyone who saw the film, knows what I’m talking about.
Why Why Why???
It’s soooooooooo perfect as is!
Unless Denzel Washington p,ays the lead…then it’ll prob be GREAT!
I like seeing Spike step outside his comfort zone. Inside Man was great. Maybe this will be, too.
Here, Here…..
Spike Lee? Does that guy have an original bone in his body?
Why is he doing a remake? I don’t get that choice at all. There are so many more interesting directors that would bring a lot more to the screen.
$ is why he’s doing it, having an interest in the material & Mandate, etc is obviously willing to trust his talents. SL has been a successful filmmaker for over 25 years. He’s brilliant, passionate & has vision. He stands up for his work & while there are some who are frightened of his assertion against the supremacist oligarchy that runs Hollywood, he has just as much right to defend what he believes in as Spielberg, Eastwood, et al.
What does that mean? The majority of his projects have been his own, original stories.
If you want to criticize, at least try to do it accurately.
@ Wowzers
Does Spike Lee have an original bone in his body? How old are you?
age is the point, clueless. spike lee WAS original, once. that was 20 years ago. now he is a tired, loud cliche.
Pointless, it wouldn’t be a huge hit in the US anyways. He should just direct Inside Man 2. A project hes been talking about forever.
This. Is. BADASS.
I hope this movie includes the two nastiest scenes in cinematic history from the original. YIKES!
Scenes, FWIW, that were not in the original manga. And the Spielberg/Protosevich adaptation was of the manga not the movie.
Spike Lee? He is certainly depressing and can take 15 years to tell a five minute story. Just another straight to DVD production.
What movie of his went straight to DVD?
That’s because he lets his ego get in the way. God forbid if there’s any editing of his midas touch for the betterment of the film.
SPOILER ALERT! Sort of.
This is a very unusual movie. Confusing and dark and exhilarating to watch.
I find it difficult to imagine that an American remake will include one of the biggest plot points – when he discovers who he’s been banging.
My guess is they’ll take the basic premise but won’t go nearly as dark… and thus, of course, completely loose the twisted essence of the original.
Or maybe they’ll write a script based on the original manga which apparently was as violent. But still, the big reveal is what it is.
Thank you for the warning Deadline. Now I know to avoid it (not going to give that racist bigot one penny).
Spike Lee has the best smile
What’s next? Brett Ratner signs on to direct the I Saw the Devil remake?
The guy who gave us the Rush Hour films and X-Men 3 can any way measure up to the guy who gave us Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, and 25th Hour how exactly?
Plus even as a fan of Park Chan-wook, I Saw the Devil barely registers in the filmography of a director who gave us the Vengeance Trilogy, JSA, and Thirst.
even brett ratner has more creative focus at this point than spike lee.
what a horrible idea to let him direct the film. i just don’t see his style working with it at all, no matter if it’s a remake of the film or manga. He fucked up 25th hour. Inside Man was nothing special, any director could have pulled it off.
Spike and Will Smith are soft, white bread, upper crust. Oldboy should’ve been given to Antoine Fuqua starring Idris Elba.
There is not one authentic way to be black. Or any race or ethnicity for that matter.
Just stop.
THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE!!!!!!
Totally agree with you “Please Stop”.
that being said, IE would be a great choice.
I wholeheartedly agree!
Oldboy should be Matty Rich (Straight outta Brooklyn) comeback film. Spike ended Matty’s career by saying Matty don’t know nothing about film. What’s Matty Rich doing today?
Who??
Omgosh..the oldboy twist isn’t even groundbreaking or shocking as its been done before and better..angel heart!
(mickey rourke character sleeps with lisa bonet character who turns out to be his daughter)and the sex scene was really graphic.
Nooooo!!! Don’t remake this film. It’s one of the best films ever committed to celluloid. Certainly the best of its decade. This is fucking sacrilege. I know people say that all the time but this film should ONLY be seen in its original version and people who can’t read subtitles should go fuck themselves. I don’t get it. An iconic director like Spike Lee attaching himself to a carbon copy of someone else’s genius. That’s a very small move, Spike and completely unworthy of your talent. I loved 25th Hour. Go make something else in that vein – THAT HASN’T ALREADY BEEN MADE TO PERFECTION.
There is a God. Thank you.
The original may be the most overrated film ever made. Bor-ing.
This is certainly better than the Spielberg rumors. I really would want it to be closer to a Chinatown/neo-noir look with the set up changed very little. Oldboy does have elements of noir for sure but I would if this movie were it’s own disturbing master work than a shot by shot imitation/white-out. At least with Spike there will be some interesting diversity on the screen and likely will fight for the movie to appear uncut.
nice to see spike making films again even if its not one of his original stuff. though hate to see that when it comes to making it the twist ending will be gone mostly to make it sellable. wonder since will smith passed on original doing the remake. who spike will cast.
Denzel FTW.
Damn, there are sure some sho Nuff, throat –ripping White folk on this joint today, now please this is not about anger, but we Black folk watch all your films white folk, good or bad , and your continuing process of making movies that appeal to and for ¼ of the globe just kills me, please give the man a break just once, lower that White supreme white view of all things Non-White that you hate and just let the man go at it !!!!
I have all the faith in the world for Spike Lee’s vision and execution as a Director but there is not the tiniest chance in hell that this film will be anywhere near as good as the original. I hope for Mandate’s sake and whoever ends up distributing it that it makes it’s money back.