Josh Brolin Could Wield A Hammer & Eat Live Octopus in Spike Lee's OLDBOY?

Twitch were recently on the ball with the scoop that Spike Lee was to direct the Hollywood remake of Oldboy, so my advice dear readers is to take this rumour pretty seriously indeed. They say the star topping Mandate Pictures' wishlist to step into the shoes of the formidable Korean actor Choi Min-Sik in the role of the desperate Oh Dae Su in their Oldboy remake is none other than Oscar nominee Josh Brolin. If Mandate Pictures have their way, he would soon be wielding a hammer, eating a live octopus and fucking his own daughter. Brolin of course is a wonderful actor who with his intensity and physical stature would excel in the role, but it's a shame to see someone so talented bothering with what we know will be an inferior and unnecessary film. I'm sure you have all seen Oldboy by now so I don't need to go into the story but very briefly - Brolin would play a now broken man who one day is suddenly let free from a hotel room he has been imprisoned in for 15 years; why and by whom he was kept are a mystery to him. A mystery he attempts to solve over the course of the film and which leads to some extremely dark places that we can't imagine a Hollywood production going down. Though there has already been heavy hints that the new movie will differ somewhat from the 2003 classic, as it's said screenwriter Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend) has been writing an adaptation that takes into account the Japanese manga source material for his script, and not just the film. It's said we can expect something more along the lines of The Departed - a totally revamped American based tale that remade a famous Asian movie and actually a film I love dearly, so maybe there is hope for this. It's also worth reminding ourselves that The Departed producer Roy Lee is also behind this do-over. Maybe there is hope? One thing that do I find most interesting about this news is the wording Twitch have used. Notice they say 'topping Mandate Pictures' wishlist' which doesn't at all sound like a casting that Spike Lee has had anything to do with, further fueling my stance that he has taken a 'work for hire' job where his creative input will be at a minimum. I spoke to my friend Simon Gallagher earlier when the news broke and he said;

a white leading a Spike Lee film? more chance of seeing the Pope's balls

And he's right. I said the role would likely end up with Denzel Washington, Will Smith or if we were lucky Idris Elba but it's a white actor that is being sought after. If this truly was A Spike Lee Joint production, we can't imagine it would have gone the same way. Would Brolin take on the role if an offer was to come his way? Who knows, he's a tough man to predict career wise. Would I like to see Brolin take on as challenging a role as Oh Dae Su? Of course I would. Would I like him to actually take on that specific part? NO