Spielberg / Smith soldier on in face of ‘Oldboy’ adversity
I am really curious to see what emerges from the Stephen Spielberg / Will Smith adapation of Oldboy. Park Chan-Wook’s 2003 film was so remarkable, I have serious doubts that another adaptation can do anything with the source material that Chan-Wook didn’t already achieve. Plus – Spielberg? Smith? Incest? Not a likely combo.
But I’ll stop bitching. Chan -Wook’s film is a fucking masterpiece. Untouchable. But Spielberg’s not exactly a hack, and Smith can act his ass off when handed the right role. So who knows.
Even so – the legality of Spielberg’s film is murky to say the least. Not Watchmen murky – I have no doubts Spielberg will make this film – but one does wonder how much money will change hands, and whose hands it will end up in, before we see Spielberg’s Oldboy on the silver screen.
Futabasha, publisher of the manga by Nobuaki Minegishi and Garon Tsuchiya, has filed a case against Show East in Seoul, alleging the Korean company never had the right to negotiate a remake.
The issue is further complicated by the fact that Show East has shut down and its CEO, Kim Dong-Ju, has disappeared. Big Egg, a co-producer of the ultra-violent revenge flick, has also closed up shop, and its former staffers are unreachable.
“We haven’t been able to confirm that Show East is bankrupt, and at this stage we’re not sure what effect this will have on the legal case,” said a spokesperson from Futabasha in Tokyo, who noted that legal proceedings had begun last week.
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Incest, tongue removal, claw hammer-killing, live octopus-eating…my respect for Will Smith would rise SO MUCH if he did all that.