Hollywood remake of Old Boy

[Cognitive Gear]

You read that correctly.

The rumor here states it would star Will Smith and be directed by Stephen Spielberg. As much as I enjoy both of these people for their respective works, I'm thinking that good things aren't coming of this.

I really wish that Hollywood didn't have to remake every foreign film that earns itself a fanbase in the US.

[Radical Dreamer]

In before Ryan's disappointed post!

Seriously though, I wish Hollywood would come up with some of their OWN ideas, for once.

[Peanut]

Why Hollywood...why do you have to ruin good things by copying them and then adding siginificant changes to try and make you seem "original?!"

[Mr. SmartyPants]

[color="Red"][SIZE="7"]NOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/SIZE][/color]











[color="Red"][SIZE="7"]DO NOT WANT!!!!!!!!!!!![/SIZE][/color]

[Cognitive Gear]

Maybe this time the story will be closer to the original manga.

/hope

[Fish and Chips]

It's time for another Good Idea Bad Idea.

Good Idea



Bad Idea

[Cognitive Gear]

First promo shot!

[Fish and Chips]

Evergreen is Carlton!



Hollywood should probably stop co-opting every other country's cinema. So much cultural baggage is lost in translation, conceivably why every American remake of an Asian horror film has been basically terrible. Oldboy is a very non-American revenge story.

Unless they have Will Smith eating a live octopus on camera, then we're pretty much on the same page.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

conceivably why every American remake of an Asian horror film has been basically terrible.

Cept for The Departed. =)

[Kkun]

It might be good. I mean, Will Smith was in Independence Day and that was a pretty sweet film. It had Jeff Goldblum in it. That's what this movie needs. Jeff Goldblum in all his neurotic Jewishness.

[Stephen]

+1 for Jeff Goldblum

[bigsleepj]

It might be good.

It might be, but there are some movies you just don't remake because a remake just wont be able to top the original. Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, Seven Samurai, Aguirre: Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo, The Great Escape, Monsieur Hulot's Holiday, The Godfather, Russian Ark and Sunset Boulevard, amongst others can all be counted as movies that are perfect, and no amount of Hollywood gloss or modern star-power or CGI can change what made these movies so good. The world just don't need remakes of these any more than it needs one of Oldboy.

I doubt Stephen Spielberg is really involved; that's probably more rumour than anything else because this is not the kind of movie I can imagine him being interested in directing, and I'd be endlessly surprised if he does take on the job (that said, he might executive produce). Will Smith's involvement seems more plausible, but he doesn't strike me as right for the role. Jeff Goldblum would be far better, or even Tom Hanks. The Oh Dae-Su role requires someone who does not seem to be a natural embodiment of cool.

[Kkun]

[quote="bigsleepj (post: 1269157)"]It might be, but there are some movies you just don't remake because a remake just wont be able to top the original. Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, Seven Samurai, Aguirre: Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo, The Great Escape, Monsieur Hulot's Holiday, The Godfather, Russian Ark and Sunset Boulevard, amongst others can all be counted as movies that are perfect, and no amount of Hollywood gloss or modern star-power or CGI can change what made these movies so good. The world just don't need remakes of these any more than it needs one of Oldboy.

I doubt Stephen Spielberg is really involved]

Aw, Johnnie, you've known me too long to not catch that I was being facetious. This movie will more than likely not stand up to the original.

[Kankokujin]

Grr...why does Hollywood do this? Do they have a problem with the cast being Asian or something?

[bigsleepj]

Aw, Johnnie, you've known me too long to not catch that I was being facetious. This movie will more than likely not stand up to the original.

Indeed, you've never been facetious about movies in my presence, if only because you know better.

[Nate]

Grr...why does Hollywood do this? Do they have a problem with the cast being Asian or something?

Oooh, not even 20 posts in and the race card has already been played!

But I'll pretend this was an actual valid question instead of what it was. Hollywood does this because they are enamored with the idea behind the film, and usually incapable of thinking up their own ideas.

So they see this movie, Oldboy. They think "Hey, this is a pretty awesome movie." However, they do not want to dub the movie and release it in theaters, because then it draws comparisons to the old hokey Godzilla movie dubs. You know the joke where in dub movies the actor's mouth keeps moving long after they've finished speaking. That looks cheesy. Also, releasing a movie subtitled in theaters is mostly a death sentence, as people don't want to read subtitles by and large.

So, their only other option is to remake the movie. If they remake the movie, they're probably going to use big name stars in order to hype the movie up. They also may change a few elements of the movie in order to have it more easily accessible for American audiences.

All that said, I'll probably go see it, even though its suckiness is all but assured.

[Kkun]

[quote="bigsleepj (post: 1269237)"]Indeed, you've never been facetious about movies in my presence, if only because you know better. ]

At the very least, I know better subconsciously. ; )

I think there are so many actors superior to Will Smith that they could get to play Oh Dae-su. Like...I'm not even sure how that will work. He was great in The Pursuit of Happyness so we know he can do serious acting, but..

...I want Daniel Day-Lewis.

Or Jeff Goldblum.

[Cognitive Gear]

So, as it turns out, they've decided to make a movie based off of the Oldboy Manga, they are not remaking the film.
I can actually look forward to this, even if the author of this article is being whiny for no reason when he should be celebrating.

[Nate]

No incest? MAN.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

OldBoy is an excellent movie but not one I'd want to watch again.