FilmDistrict so far has October 11, 2013 all to itself on the release schedule with Oldboy, which stars Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley and Samuel L. Jackson in a remake of Park Chan-wook’s 2003 cult suspense thriller. Spike Lee is directing. Brolin plays an advertising executive who is kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement without any indication of his captor’s motive. When he is released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his punishment only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment. Mark Protosevich wrote the adapted screenplay and is co-producing.
FilmDistrict picked up U.S. distribution rights to Oldboy last month in Toronto. It is set as the first title from Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane’s Good Universe. Kahane produced with Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee and Doug Davison, and Drake, FilmDistrict CEO Peter Schlessel and John Middleton executive produced. The film is also a 40 Acres & A Mule production.
The original South Korean film won the Grand Prize Jury Award at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.


Can’t wait to see how much they wash the story before filming it. Although Lee has been known to push boundaries in the past, his more recent efforts indicate that he has settled into a typical Hollywood existence, making tame, generic films about mildly interesting subjects.
Film District? That’s all I need to know. They don’t know how to distribute a movie if their lives depended on it, or run an awards campaign. Last year they screwed up the releases of Drive, Blood & Honey, and Rum Diary. Bombs away.