Action movies are easy to make enjoyable but difficult to make memorable. A well-choreographed fight scene is always welcome, but it takes a lot to make a modern fight feel like a truly innovative piece of cinema. That’s one reason why stunts are getting increasingly outlandish to the point where Tom Cruise is risking his life for every Mission: Impossible movie.
But in 2003, a visionary Korean director made an action movie that revolutionized the genre while delivering a chilling, twisty revenge story. Now, over a decade after a disappointing American remake, it may get another English recreation that does it justice.
According to Deadline, Park Chan-wook’s iconic revenge thriller Oldboy will be developed into an English-language television series in conjunction with Lionsgate. The original film starred Choi Min-sik as struggling father Oh Dae-su, who finds himself imprisoned in a hotel room for years. When he’s released, he seeks an explanation for why he was kidnapped, and he doesn’t get it with polite questioning. Park, who most recently wrote and directed for HBO’s The Sympathizer, will serve as producer.
Oldboy’s intense story could be suited for a TV series.
It’s not the first time Oldboy has been adapted for American audiences. Spike Lee directed an English language remake in 2013 starring Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Olsen, but it paled in comparison with the original. A future remake has its work cut out for it.
But a new medium might be a better fit for a new remake. While most famous for its groundbreaking action scenes, Oldboy’s plot goes places that wouldn’t be out of place in a dramatic Greek epic. A longer runtime and chapter-based storytelling could suit the narrative. And with Park producing this new adaptation, he could try to recapture the same tone... or find a fresh take on his own material.
Park’s Oldboy contained a one-take action scene set in a long hallway that became synonymous with innovative directing. Maybe, if we’re lucky, a new TV show will also break bold new ground.
