Will Smith and Steven Spielberg are reportedly planning to collaborate on a Hollywood remake of Chan-wook Park's 2003 thriller Oldboy. Sorry, but I just don't see it.
The scene in which Min-sik Choi beats off an army of bad guys wielding nothing but a hammer? Yes, Smith could definitely pull that off. He was born to pull stuff like that off.
The live octopus-eating bit? OK, sure. I wouldn't expect Smith to eat a live animal, but you can fake it and no harm done.
But the ending? Can you actually imagine Smith as Oldboy's protagonist during the last 5-10 minutes of the movie? I hope I'm wrong - I'd be interested to see a Spielberg redo of this one, just for the hell of it - but I can't picture Smith playing this character during the final scenes of the film. Stars of his magnitude have a certain screen persona to protect, and as good of an actor as he is, I don't think he'd be willing to go there.
They need to keep the "gut-churning" - as well as the "wow-that-was-awesome - parts intact. Anyone willing to take on this project should be very mindful of that, although there is a lot in this movie that is traditionally anti-Hollywood and I don't know if Spielberg is as bold as Scorsese (The Departed) when it comes to retaining a great, startling ending from the original.
But I love Oldboy so much, and it has such a very sizable - for a foreign film - cult following in the U.S. that a re-do strikes me as a horrific plan. Then again remakes and recuts and sequels and prequels and adaptations and all things unoriginal is Hollywood's forte.
Posted by: erwin | November 07, 2008 at 10:56 AM
The mere thought of trying to remake that movie is wildly insulting.
Posted by: Jess | November 07, 2008 at 05:05 PM
One should never tamper with perfection. Oldboy is a perfect film.
Posted by: mrbluelouboyle | November 09, 2008 at 11:46 AM
Hollywood can't do something like Oldboy. They will mess up the ending by trying to make it happy, or at least less "icky."
Posted by: makronikal | November 18, 2008 at 05:00 PM