Samuel L. Jackson joins Spike Lee's 'Oldboy' remake; filming begins in October

It seems kind of odd to me that we haven't seen more of Samuel L. Jackson and Spike Lee working together. The two are a natural fit, but when I think of Jackson the first director that pops into my mind is Quentin Tarantino. Jackson has actually been a handful of Lee films in the past, but by far the most unforgettable is his verbal throwdown with Laurence Fisbhurne in School Daze, which also happens to be my favorite of Lee's movies. Now after twenty years apart, the two are set to team up again for Lee's remake of Oldboy.

Jackson is just one of two new additions to the film, with the other being Bruce Hornsby, who did the distracting memorable score for Red Hook Summer. As for Jackson, his role in Oldboy is small but for anyone who knows Park Chan-Wook's South Korean classic, it'll be instantly recognizable. He plays a man who is being tortured by the film's hero, played by Josh Brolin. I could go into details, but I'd rather you watch the original movie for yourself. Besides, there's no telling how much of the story will be altered. Sharlto Copley and Elizabeth Olsen are the only other roles that have been cast at this point, and frankly I'm not even sure if Olsen is confirmed or not. Don't think so.

As for when Oldboy will start rolling, we'd been hearing that the fall was a likely target. I had the opportunity to talk to Spike Lee yesterday while he was making the Red Hook Summer press rounds, and while answering a question about how busy he's been, he narrowed it down to a more specific time frame....

Lee: "I just finished directing Mike Tyson on Broadway, in a one-man show called 'Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth'. Mike was great. His first time on Broadway, my first time directing on Broadway. In October I begin shooting my new film, 'Oldboy', a remake of the Korean classic film, starring Josh Brolin. So we're about to work, and in the spring I go back to teaching at NYU."

Getting him to say much more about Oldboy was like pulling teeth, as he was clearly focused on Red Hook Summer, as he should be. I'll say this, though, he seemed excited about it, and that's more than enough to get me excited for it as well.  We'll have more from my interview with Spike Lee on next week's episode of PDC Live.  [LA Times]