At this point, I don't think any of us know quite what to expect from Spike Lee's curious remake of Park Chan-wook's undeniable modern classic, Oldboy. A literal Hollywood remake of the Korean original would be impossible to exist, but then there must be a new way that Lee thinks he can tell this particularly disturbing revenge tale, otherwise why would he bother? I'm not buying it's because of the money... there's much easier, less controversial and less hard-work ways to make money as a "director for hire" these days. The curtain of mystery that hangs over Lee's Oldboy should be well drawn by the end of this week. The first full length trailer is set to be unleashed on Wednesday, but before that a rather fascinating one-sheet debut poster has been unveiled online. Check it out below...
This rather tantalising sneak peak at the new Oldboy is probably not what many of us expected. You'd be hard to know it was Oldboy without the film title, but if it's job was to intrigue, it does it in spades. Neil Kellerhouse is the man responsible for the poster design. His credits include David Fincher's movies The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and he has once again succeeded in catching your eye. The image of our lead Josh Brolin awakening out of the chest looks to be an actual shot taken from the movie, a highly unusual visual choice for a movie poster. Additionally, the title is
apparently written in Brolin's own handwriting, a smart choice that those familiar with the original will understand. Oldboy co-stars Elizabeth Olsen and Sharlto Copley in the other two key roles and comes from a script by Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend, Thor).
Oldboy is a provocative, visceral thriller that follows the story of an advertising executive (Josh Brolin) who is abruptly kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement. When he is inexplicably released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his bizarre and torturous punishment only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment.
Oldboy is due to be released on October 25th and could yet prove to be 2013's surprise offering.