What Direction Will Spike Lee’s OLDBOY Take?

Years ago Venkman and I watched the original Oldboy and let me tell you, it has stuck with me ever since.  Now, with the news that Spike Lee is going to be making the American version of the film, I am filled with excitement, confusion and dread.  Don’t get me wrong, the OG Korean film was great, but it is one of the only movies that made me squirm.  My question to Lee is, how true to the original movie are you going to stay?  Apparently, I was not the only one with this concern.  The guys over Twitch asked a very similar question, they wanted to know if Lee would be drawing his inspiration from the film or the original Japanese comic.  They received an answer from a source close to the production.  

This is what it was:

Writer Mark Protosevich is using both the Korean film and the Japanese book as reference points for his own script. While the previous film will have more of an influence on the Protosevich script the manga will definitely also be present. Beyond that we are also told that the approach here is not unlike that employed withThe Departed, a film from the same producers which used characters and scenarios from the source material as a launching point while also jettisoning several key elements and events from the original film and working significant amounts of entirely new material into the mix. We're told roughly twenty percent of the Protosevich script is entirely new material.

Like I said, I liked the original film.  I have not read the comic, but I would love to check it out.  I think Lee has the potential to do this story justice.  I loved Inside Man, I think he pulled that one off quite well.  So, let’s see how he does this one.  Let us know what you think.

McMurphy Out!

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