Hot off his collaboration with Spike Lee in "Red Hook Summer," Nate Parker is in negotiations to star in Lee's remake of South Korean favorite, "Oldboy." Parker would play a doctor who works with Elizabeth Olsen's character. If the deal goes through, Parker would join a cast that already includes Olsen, Josh Brolin, Sharlto Copley, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Since "Oldboy" is a landmine of surprises and potential spoilers, we're going to tread lightly for anyone who hasn't seen the original or doesn't know anything about the story. But the basic conceit, in its simplest form, involves a man (played by Brolin) who is imprisoned for fifteen years for reasons that he doesn't understand. Just as mysteriously, he's released from the prison (that resembles a hotel except for the knock-out gas that floods his room everyday and the fact that he can't leave) and has to begin to piece his life together – not only the missing fifteen years but who locked him up, and why. In the remake, Copley would play his captor and Samuel L. Jackson the guy who runs the hotel/prison. Olsen plays a potential ally on his quest for self-discovery. And that's pretty much all we can say.
The new film was written and co-produced by Mark Protosevich ("The Cell," "I Am Legend," early drafts of Marvel's "Thor") and produced by Roy Lee and Doug Davison, along with Mandate Pictures' president Nathan Kahane (Mandate is producing).
Parker scored a sleeper hit earlier this year with George Lucas' barely watchable WWII melodrama "Red Tails" and can be seen with a supposedly career-best Richard Gere in financial drama "Arbitrage," which Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate will open in theaters and on VOD on September 14th. "Oldboy" starts shooting later this month, for release (we imagine) sometime in 2013. [Variety]
Meanwhile, Lee's Michael Jackson documentary, "Bad 25," centering on the 25th anniversary of the legendary Bad album is heading to DVD rather soon. Having just premiered in Venice (read our review here), Lee said over Twitter this morning the DVD release of the doc is expected in early 2013.