15 Films You Didn't Realise Were Based On Comic Books

10. Oldboy

A History of Violence
Show East

In Oldboy, a man called Dae-su is locked up for over a decade by a mysterious benefactor for reasons unknown to him. When he is suddenly released, he is informed that he only has five days to learn who imprisoned him.

The story is based on a 1996 manga of the same name. When fans of the movie learn this, they assume that's why the epic corridor brawl is framed like a fighting sequence from a comic. Weirdly, this iconic battle isn't in the manga. The incest storyline was also invented for the adaptation.

Even though the film has a high kill count, no one dies in the original story until the end. Even though comic adaptions tend to tone down violence and adult themes, it's clear Chan-wook Park's adaptation of Oldboy upped the ante dramatically.

Contributor

James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows