An English language remake of Park Chan-wook’s South Korean classic Oldboy is now in development
Well, isn’t this a bit of unexpected news? Park Chan-wook is onboard as a producer with Lionsgate Television to adapt Oldboy into an English-language TV show.
My first impression is that this is a very strange story to be adapting into a TV series. I mean, I guess we can take comfort in the fact that Chan-wook is involved in the production. Park Chan-wook is one of the most talented filmmakers working today. If he thinks that there is potential in an English-language remake of Oldboy, then, do you want to know something? I believe him, I have nothing but faith in Mr Chan-wook.
The original 2003 South Korean classic is widely considered to be one of the greatest revenge stories ever told. Starring the legendary Choi Min-sik, Oldboy tells the story of Dae Su, a man who wakes up to find he has been imprisoned in a small room. After 15 years, he is randomly released and is given 5 days to find out who imprisoned him and more importantly…why?.
Not a lot of people know that Oldboy is based on a Japanese Manga of the same name. The original Manga series ran for two years from 1996 to 1998. I’m sure there is a lot of content in the Manga series that wasn’t touched on in the movie. An Oldboy TV series may not sound like such a bad idea after all.
This will be the second time Oldboy will be adapted to English-language with the first being Spike Lee’s abomination in 2013. The best way I could describe Lee’s version is that he dissected Oldboy and removed its heart and soul.
You can expect to hear more updates on the Oldboy series as they are announced. I’m sure you know that Moviehooker will be following this one every step of the way.
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