Spike Lee to direct Oldboy remake!

From Deadline:

Mandate Pictures just announced that Spike Lee will direct Oldboy, a remake of the cult 2003 South Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook that won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Mark Protosevich has adapted the screenplay and will co-produce; Roy Lee and Doug Davison will produce via Vertigo Entertainment with Lee's 40 Acres & A Mule. Mandate president Nathan Kahane will executive produce. Lee and Protosevich are repped by CAA. Dan Freedman, SVP business affairs, negotiated the deals for Mandate.

This is the project that Steven Spielberg and Will Smith were looking to collaborate on back in 2008, with DreamWorks seeking the remake rights at the time. The film originally was set up at Universal before Mandate took over. The story centers on a man who is kidnapped on his daughter's birthday and held for 15 years in solitary confinement without explanation. He is eventually released and sets out on a path to take revenge on those who destroyed his life.

Spike Lee might now be directing the potential remake of Oldboy...

...as per this from Collider:

Much like its protagonist Oh Daesu, the remake of Chan-wook Park’s Oldboy is very hard to kill (provided the opponent is a thug in a long corridor). Last November, we reported that Mandate Pictures was still interested in the remake and loved the script by Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend) turned in. The studio was looking at Steven Spielberg, Matthew Vaughn, and Danny Boyle to take the director’s chair, but now a new name has gone on the list. Twitch reports that Spike Lee is in talks to direct the film. While I think an American remake of Oldboy is a bad idea, it could still be a hit and if it gives Lee the boost he needs to make more personal films, then so be it.

Back in 2009, Will Smith was reportedly interested in the lead role, but now that’s a laugh. Quentin Tarantino wrote Smith a raw, challenging role for Django Unchained and Smith passed (Jamie Foxx will play the role instead). It’s unlikely he would play the lead in a dark revenge thriller. On the other hand, frequent Lee collaborator Denzel Washington would be a great choice.

-Joey's Two Cents: It could be an interesting match of material and filmmaker, but who knows if this project will ever get made...thoughts?