Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2013: #96. Spike Lee’s Oldboy

Oldboy

Director: Spike Lee
Writer(s): Mark Protosevich (first credit was The Cell)
Producer(s): Quandrant Pictures’ Doug Davison, Primal Pictures’ Roy Lee
U.S. Distributor: Film District
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley, Lance Reddick, Michael Imperioli, James Ransone

We aren’t stamping this with the “useless remake” label just yet and that’s because we marveled at the original, and while we expect the fallout to remain intact, we’re also thinking that Spike Lee might have replaced the choreography elements, kept the nuts and bolts of the brilliance behind Park Chan-Wook’s original, and perhaps made it surprisingly darker. The key ingredient here is Cinematographer Sean Bobbitt. His string of recent amazing work include Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines, Steve McQueen’s Hunger and Shame make for a truly visceral experience. This might surprise a few folks – making this his most celebrated work since 2002’s 25th Hour.

Gist: When the ad executive (Josh Brolin) is released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his bizarre and torturous punishment, only to find that he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment. His quest for revenge leads him into an ill-fated relationship with a young social worker (Olsen) and ultimately to an illusive man (Copley) who allegedly holds the key to his salvation.

Release Date: There could be a definite attempt on a film festival’s part to include a Lee film of this stature in the line-up. With a pegged October 11th release set, interest could come from TIFF where they’ve launched some of his more recent efforts.