Spielberg and Smith join forces to remake Oldboy

Written by Henry Kim Thursday, 07 May 2009 09:07

According to Variety, Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are planning to collaborate to make a remake of Park Chan Wook’s Oldboy (2003). The film won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and was highly praised by Jury President Quentin Tarantino. Smith would play the imprisoned man - Choi Min Sik in the 2003 original - who is kidnapped and held captive for 15 years in a small hotel room without knowing who is subjugating him nor why he is being punished. All of a sudden, he is set free, given money, clothes and a mobile phone; and he then sets out to discover who stole his life from him in order to take long-awaited revenge. In a twisted ending, he discovers the reasons for his captivity, but is left devastated with the events that unfold.

While I welcome a remake of Oldboy, I cannot picture a Spielberg/Smith rendition of the story. I mean c’mon, Smith doesn’t even cuss in his rap albums. How is he going to play such a tormented character? And how is Spielberg going to bring the same rawness that director Park Chan Wook brought? Can you picture the ‘Fresh Prince’ eating live octopus? While I have my reservations, I am still open to seeing how they do. I just hope it’s not a Disneyland version of the OG Oldboy.