By David on November 25, 2008
Here’s a bit of good news for the Hollywood version of Oldboy: It’s not going to be a remake of the film. Instead, it’s going to be based on manga. From TwitchFilm.net:
The American Oldboy will not be a remake of the Park Chan Wook film but will instead be a fresh interpretation of the original Japanese manga – source material that Park himself strayed significantly from. So, not a remake but a different version from the same source. Continue reading at TwitchFilm.net
Here’s more from Will Smith, courtesy of FilmSchoolRejects.com:
Oldboy Manga
Will Smith: “We’re looking at that right now. Not the film though, it’s the original source material. There’s the original comics of ‘Oldboy’ that they made the first film from. And that’s what we’re working from, not an adaptation of the film…”
Apparently Spielberg wasn’t acquiring the rights to the film Oldboy, he was acquiring the rights to the original source material of the graphic novel ‘Oldboy.’ Continue reading at FilmSchoolRejects.com
I’m glad this was cleared up, because I didn’t think there was any way it could compare to the original film. What do you think?
Posted in Anime News, Manga News | Tagged live action manga, oldboy, oldboy manga, will smith oldboy remake
I love anime. Specifically, series involving any of the following things: weird fantasy elements, super-powers, robots, aliens, wicked humor, crazy villains, horror, ninjas and samurai. I guess that means I like a lot of anime. I am pretty particular about the quality of animation and voice acting. If the character designs and animation quality aren't of über-quality, I quickly loose interest.The first anime-related series I ever watched was Battle of the Planets - otherwise known as Gatachman. The first true theatrical anime feature film I saw was Akira. My first exposure to manga was later in life when I read Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy.There are so many incredible elements of Japanese culture. Some of the most exciting to me are the style of design and storytelling. I'm a web designer & illustrator, and I find myself looking to Japanese design for inspiration all the time.Anime blogging has taught me even more about Japanese culture and anime than I ever expected, and I continue to learn more every week. In fact, I'd love to travel to Japan. Rachel and I hope to visit sometime within the next few years.
I hadn’t paid much attention to this film, but this enthuses me. Respect for the source material and the presence of Will Smith? Definitely good signs – Smith can do well even in the presence of bad or mediocre material, and if the film’s crew is looking to actually respect the original works, moreso the better.
Now that Hollywood is looking at Japan so eagerly, I wonder what’s next in the adaption train . . .
DragonScholar – I agree. When it was originally announced, they didn’t indicate that it would be anything other than a remake of the film. Which sounded kinda dumb ’cause it’s so good but a lot of the concepts probably wouldn’t sit well with western audiences. Now that it’s clearly an adaptation of the manga, it’s sounds a lot better.
The original Korean movie was really very tense. I don’t know if the Hollywood version will match up to it, even if it’s from the comic book adaptation.