by Sebastian Suchecki, Mar 1 2012 // 10:30 AM

The casting has not come particularly quick or easy for the Spike Lee directed remake of the Korean thriller Oldboy.
Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men, Men In Black III) locked in as the lead character quite early in the process but the quest for a villain so far has involved names ranging from Christian Bale to Clive Owen, with even Colin Firth being in the mix. All have passed for various reasons and the search continues.
Filling the role of Brolin’s love interest, Marie, has been an equally difficult task. Both Rooney Mara and Mia Wasikowska have been offered and rejected the part of the female lead role. It is now being reported that the role of Marie has been offered to Elizabeth Olsen.
The film follows an average man who is kidnapped and imprisoned in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. He then is released, equipped with money, a cellphone and expensive clothes. As he strives to explain his imprisonment and get his revenge, he soon finds out that his kidnapper has a greater plan for him and is set onto a path of pain and suffering in an attempt to uncover the motive of his mysterious tormentor.
The lesser known Olsen sister, Elizabeth seemingly sprang out of nowhere at Sundance 2011 to become one of America’s most sought after young actresses thanks to parts in the soon to be released Silent House and the under the radar film Martha Marcy May Marlene. With three other projects listed to start in 2013, she’s not going away anytime soon. She’s also got a sizable gap in her schedule before those projects are due to start, which makes this a very plausible option.
Posted in: Casting · Foreign Films · Movies · News · Reboots and Remakes · Rumor · Thriller
Tagged: Christian Bale, Clive Owen, Colin Firth, Elizabeth Olsen, Josh Brolin, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Men In Black III, Mia Wasikowska, No Country for Old Men, Oldboy, Rooney Mara, Silent House, Spike Lee
by Matt Raub, Aug 30 2011 // 9:15 AM
Nine out of ten times, when we hear about a foreign film being remade for American audiences, we here at The Flickcast are the first to agree that it will likely be terrible, and won’t do the original any justice. Then we heard that the remake of Oldboy will be taken on by acclaimed director Spike Lee.
Needless to say, we were intrigued. Now, the story is only getting better, as Jonah Hex himself, Josh Brolin, has been announced to take on the lead of the project. Here’s what Deadline has on the scoop.
It’s official: Brolin will topline the Mandate Pictures redo, which begins production in March. Brolin, who just wrapped Men in Black 3 with Will Smith, next begins work on Warner Bros’ Gangster Squad.
The new Oldboy has script adapted by Mark Protosevich, who will co-produce. Roy Lee and Doug Davison will produce via Vertigo Entertainment with Lee’s 40 Acres & A Mule. Mandate president Nathan Kahane will executive produce.
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Posted in: Action · Announcements · Casting · Drama · Foreign Films · Movies · News · Reboots and Remakes
Tagged: 40 Acres & A Mule, Doug Davison, Jonah Hex, Josh Brolin, Mandate Pictures, Oldboy, Spike Lee, Vertigo Entertainment
by Chris Ullrich, Jul 11 2011 // 12:42 PM
To be honest, as with most remakes, I’m not sure how I feel about this. I’m sure it might look like a great idea on paper, at least to some, but I’m not sure director Spike Lee has the required sensibilities to direct a remake of Chanwook Park’s cult classic revenge tale Oldboy.
That’s right, according to reports, Lee is set to do that very thing for Mandate Pictures. The new film is being adapted by Mark Protosevich, who will also co-produce.
It’s not that I think Lee isn’t a good director, he is. In fact, I very much enjoyed his recent film Inside Man, which showed he can reach beyond the fare he’s usually associated with. Plus, his 25th Hour was also a very good indicator of his range as a director.
But Oldboy requires a certain bit of over-the-top thinking that I’m not sure Lee can muster. I felt the same way when it was Steven Spielberg and Will Smith who were trying to mount a remake a few years ago. I’m not sure they could do the film justice either.
At least, given the choice between Spielberg and Lee, I would pick Lee to do the remake. He’s at least farther down the right track. Of course, now that this is going again and Lee is apparently onboard, the big question is who will play the title character, know as Oh Dae-Su in Park’s version?
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Posted in: Movies · News · Reboots and Remakes
Tagged: 25th Hour, Chanwook Park, Clive Owen, Inside Man, Mark Protosevich, Oldboy, Remakes, Spike Lee, Tom Hardy, Will Smith
by Joe Gillis, Nov 11 2009 // 11:00 AM
This week on The Flickcast, Chris and Matt are joined by special guest Elisabeth Rappe and they waste no time diving into a whole ne batch of topics for the show. Some of these topics include Jim Cameron’s Avatar, Francis Lawrence’s Sgt. Rock movie for Warner Bros., Will Smith’s career and his remake of Oldboy, upcoming holiday movies, Cuba Gooding, Jr.’s career, clones, clones, clones and much more.
The three also made some cool picks this week, as they always do, including Elisabeth’s pick of the Netflix movie streaming service which features tons of great content, Matt’s pick of the sci-fi classic The Last Starfighter and Chris’ pick of the new V series on ABC which features, among others, Lost’s Elizabeth Mitchell, Party of Five’s Scott Wolf and Firefly’s Morena Bacarrin and Alan Tudyuk
As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter and at Facebook, MySpace or via email.
Posted in: ABC · Movies · Podcasts · TV
Tagged: Alan Tudyuk, Avatar, Episode 31, Firefly, James Cameron, Kenneth Johnson, Morena Bacarrin, Natalie Portman, Netflix, Oldboy, Serenity, Sgt. Rock, The Last Starfighter, V, Will Smith