Will Smith and Spielberg May Remake Oldboy

Published by Jeff Leins on: November 8th, 2008

Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are in early discussions to remake the Korean mystery Oldboy.

DreamWorks, lead by Spielberg, is in the process of acquiring the rights to the remake and, if it’s made, it will be distributed by Universal.  Smith would play the main character, called Daesu in the 2003 original.  Smith and Spielberg have never worked together.

The story is about a man imprisoned for 15 years without explanation before being released and given money, clothes, and a cell phone.  It’s an incredible story about revenge and the ending will leave you absolutely floored.  The original film by Chan-wook Park currently sits at #117 in the top 250 movies of all time at the Internet Movie Database.

Spielberg and Smith are unquestionably talented.  But I can’t see them remaking this movie and being remotely true to the themes and especially the ending.  They’ll pump out some sort of watered down PG-13 version with a completely different twist at the end.  I respect Spielberg as a filmmaker, but I don’t think he has the courage to keep the plot intact.  Plus I know Smith won’t want to upset his massive audience by doing something that outrageous.

A remake of Oldboy is at the top of my list of “movies I never want to see made.”  Ever.  Especially with Will Smith.  Let me put it another way, it’s above Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel.

For a view of how awesome Oldboy is, watch this four minute clip of him fighting a hallway full of his captors with just a hammer: