Spike Lee Confirmed to Direct Oldboy

In the eight years since Chan-wook Park’s Oldboy polarized audiences and won the 2004 Grand Prize Jury Award at Cannes, talks of an English-language remake have circulated. While a diverse slate of names has been bandied about as possible directors and stars—Steven Spielberg, Will Smith, Nicolas Cage, Danny Boyle and Matthew Vaughn among them—Mandate Pictures has confirmed that Spike Lee has officially signed on to direct a remake of the South Korean hit.

With a script adaptation by Mark Protosevich (The Cell, I Am Legend), who will also co-produce, the film will be produced by Roy Lee and Doug Davison, who are no strangers to successful Americanizations of foreign films, having previously produced The Ring, The Departed, The Grudge and Quarantine.

“It’s a great honor to put this special project into the hands of such a gifted writer and iconic director,” says Mandate president Nathan Kahane, who will executive produce the tale of a man who is kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years. Look for a 2012 release date.