Park Chan-wook, director of the iconic South Korean action-thriller film Oldboy, is developing an English-language TV series based on the film.
Park’s 2003 film is a loose adaptation of the Japanese manga of the same name, which told the story of Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), who is imprisoned in a cell that resembles a hotel room for 15 years without knowing the identity of his captor or his captor’s motives. When he is finally released, Dae-su finds himself still trapped in a web of conspiracy and violence as he seeks revenge against his captor.
According to a report from Variety, Park will be teaming up with Lionsgate Television to adapt the film for TV, this time catered to an English-speaking audience. While a director has yet to be attached to the series, it has been confirmed that Park will produce.
Further information surrounding the series, including its cast, episode count, release date, platform and more have yet to be announced.
Park said of the TV adaptation in a statement to Variety: “Lionsgate Television shares my creative vision for bringing Oldboy into the world of television. I look forward to working with a studio whose brand stands for bold, original and risk-taking storytelling.”
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This will not be the first time that Oldboy has been adapted for an English-speaking audience. In 2013, Spike Lee remade the film, which starred Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen and Samuel L. Jackson among others.
Besides Oldboy, Park Chan-wook is best known for hit South Korean films such as Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Lady Vengeance. All three films make up a loose vengeance-themed trilogy, titled the Vengeance Trilogy. Park is also known for Snowpiercer, The Handmaiden and Decision To Leave.
Most recently, Park has directed, written and produced the HBO original series The Sympathizer, starring Hoa Xuande and Robert Downey Jr. among others.