OldBoy Remake is Dead.

Best news I've had all day.

That was the reaction to Slash Film's article about the purported American version of OldBoy, a Korean masterpiece, starring Will Smith and to be directed by Steven Spielberg.

Latino Review is reporting that Steven Spielberg’s Old Boy starring Will Smith is dead in the water. Apparently Dreamworks and original Korean production studio Mandate were working together to get the rights to the manga, but the two couldn’t reach an agreement, and Dreamworks simply walked away. Spielberg’s film was to be an adaptation of the original manga by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, and not a direct remake of Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy.

I have nothing against Will Smith, despite him being involved in two HORRIBLY advised remakes (Old Boy and Karate Kid) and to be honest he's one of my favorite actors out there. I've been a huge fan of Smith for YEARS, and most people consider me an apologist for him, able to put a positive spin on damn near anything that comes up negatively about him.

That said, I was dead set against this from the moment I heard about it. And not because of anyone involved, but more to the point that it was being discussed at all.

As Is aid, Oldboy is a MASTERPIECE! In every sense of the word. It's one of the very few films that I've seen that I would call an out and out perfect film. There's not a single false moment in this tale of revenge and heartbreak. Often times uncomfortable, and at other times exhilarating, this bonafide classic film is just an excellent piece of art.

And it does NOT need to be redone. By anyone. How can you improve on perfection? You can't. There's no way you can succeed with this, it will always be held to the original and come up lacking.

That's the issue I have with the Smith produced Karate Kid remake starring his son Jaden in the Daniel LaRusso role, and Jackie Chan in the Mr. Miyagi role. Why do another one? There was no need. The first movie is great, if a bit cheesy in areas. It's a defining film in many people's lives, who were growing up at that time.

The movie, when it comes out, will be savaged by critics comparing it to the original, and I anticipate many cruel comments being lobbed at young Jaden Smith.

So back to my original point. The OldBoy remake is dead. And while it wasn't a remake of the movie, but of the Manga that was the basis for the movie, still...it was a bad idea, and one that I'm glad is done.

One final note, I remember hearing about this years ago when Nicolas Cage was attached. I actually thought it might be kinda cool then, just because of the love that Cage has for Korean culture. I knew that Cage was a huge fan of the film, and think that he would have at least tried to be as respectful as he could be in recreating the Korean original.

Here's the trailer for the original OldBoy. I highly recommend this to everyone who likes thought provoking and intelligent movies. You can find English dubbed version on the US RELEASE of this, if you don't like Subtitles, but I prefer the original Korean audio with English Subtitles myself. BE WARNED: The subject matter in the film (without wanting to give anything away) is VERY mature and adult. This isn't a film for kids.

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