The Hollywood Reporter offers word on Steven Spielberg's Oldboy project, an adaptation of the original manga by Nobuaki Minegishi, and it may be good.
When last we left our heroes, they were being sued by Korean producers that had already made a film in 2003 and felt that they had the movie rights to the manga.
Now the manga's publisher, Futabasha, is suing the production company, Show East, claiming that it never had rights to negotiate remakes. The whole matter is made more complex by the fact that Show East ahs actually closed its doors, potentially due to bankruptcy.
There also appears to be some confusion with said remake rights, which were negotiated by Cineclick Asia in South Korea between Show East and Universal. Universal sold the rights to Mandate, and Mandate sold them to DreamWorks.
Will the movie happen? No clue-- and DreamWorks offers no comment on the scuffle. But word is that Spielberg and Will Smith willl be moving forward with the movie, so it seems likely once again.
Okay guys, I've never gotten around to reading Oldboy, so you'll have to fill me in: should I be disappointed or ecstatic?
He always does a great job on movies he is involved with
Oh Shit!!!! Will Smith is going to star? Well then this is going to be a very different movie.