Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004, the film by Park Chan-Wook Old Boy will experience a new lease of life in the form of a series developed in English by the South Korean director, in collaboration with Lionsgate Television.
From cult film to TV series
Park, who will produce this adaptation with Syd Lim (with whom he already worked on the feature film), declared that he shares the same creative vision for this project with Lionsgate Television:
“I look forward to working with a studio whose hallmark is bold, original, risk-taking storytelling,” Park said according to Deadline.
Old Boy is above all a story of revenge: the 2003 film tells how Oh Dae-Soo (Choi Min-sik), an uneventful father of a family, finds himself sequestered for 15 years and sets out, once freed, in pursuit of his abductor.
Old Boy, which garnered accolades upon its release and is still considered one of cinema’s best thrillers today, is known for being particularly violent. His award at Cannes was also a great first for a South Korean film.
“Park is one of the most visionary storytellers of our generation, and we are thrilled to partner with him to bring his cinematic masterpiece to the screen.”said Scott Herbst, executive vice president and head of drama development at Lionsgate Television. “This series adaptation of Old Boy will feature the raw emotional force, iconic fight scenes and visceral style that made his film a classic.”
Based on a Japanese manga by Garon Tsuchiya, Park’s feature film was the subject, in 2013, of a remake directed by Spike Lee with Josh Brolin in the lead, but this mediocre film had less more successful than the original.
Josh Brolin in Spike Lee’s remake. © OB Productions, Inc.
This series project will not be Park’s first foray into television. The filmmaker, to whom we also owe the films Miss (2016) and Decision to Leave (2022), was also involved in the production of the series Snowpiercer and is also producer and director of the HBO show The Sympathizerwith Robert Downey Jr., currently being broadcast on Prime Video via Warner Pass.
Series Old Boy is only at the development stage, and therefore does not yet have a broadcaster.
- Watch the trailer for Park Chan-Wook’s film: