All I can say is thank whatever deity you may believe in. Over the last few months, details have begun to leak regarding production of the American remake of Oldboy. Spielberg on board to direct. Will Smith vehicle. Would follow the manga more than the movie. All of it amounted to nothing less than cinematic blasphemy, mostly because everyone knew that two mainstream dudes like Spielberg and Smith could never make anything together that even remotely pushed any type of envelope.
Well, as though by grace of some sort of invisible creator (whichever you’re into), production on the movie is hitting some snags. Anime News Network is reporting that Futabasha, the publisher of the manga version of Oldboy, is filing a lawsuit against Show East, the production company making the remake, over the rights of the new version of the movie. Futabasha is claiming that Show East violated their contract together by moving ahead on a Hollywood version of the film.
There was no doubt that this movie would eventually get some kind of wrench in its production considering the material at hand, but it’s hard to believe that the wrench was a rights one. Let’s just hope this suit is just like an American suit and lasts longer than we all live. Good riddance.
