I vividly remember the first time I saw Park Chan-wook’s “Oldboy.” A friend of mine, who had returned from Korea, had brought a DVD copy of it back from his trip and told me I had to watch it. The English subtitles were, to put it mildly, not the best, but I was completely floored by the film.
“Oldboy” went on to screen at Cannes the following year, where the Quentin Tarantino-led jury gave it the Grand Jury Prize (second place), but rumors had always pointed towards Tarantino wanting to give it the Palme d’Or. The filmmaker had been spotted at three different screenings of the film during the festival.
All of this to say that Yesterday’s announcement of an “Oldboy” TV series remake, via Lionsgate, is a step too far. It’s unnecessary and unneeded.
Spike Lee already, quite messily, remade “Oldboy” in 2013, failing to capture the excitement of the original. Most critics agreed. It was a botched job. Although, The New Yorker’s Richard Brody (him again) still believes the remake to be better than the original. A minority opinion.
“Old Boy” has stood the test of time, its manic energy and feverish violence has been replicated but not duplicated in other films. Choi Min-sik's performance was intensely brilliant. It also featured one of the best twist endings of the 21st century.
Park is fresh off “The Sympathizer,” a limited series starring Robert Downey Jr. that just debuted on HBO this past weekend. He’s supposed to be producing the “Oldboy” TV remake. No production or release dates were given to us by Lionsgate.