Rumors about a Hollywood remake of Chan-wook Park’s OldBoy or rather the original manga by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi have been around the net for several years now. After Stephen Spielberg and Will Smith left the project about two years ago and other candidates like Danny Boyle and Matthew Vaughn didn’t get their chance, Mandate Pictures (finally?) got some confirmed news for us. Rope of Silicone reports that the studio announced that Spike Lee will helm the remake/reinterpretation after a screenplay by Mark Protosevich (The Cell, I am Legend, Thor) with yet unnamed actors.
[via Rope of Silicone]

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Synopsis:

Night Fishing (Paranmanjang) is a fantastical tale about a man who, while out fishing one afternoon/evening, catches the body of a woman dressed in white. While trying to untangle the line he faints and wakes up wearing the clothes that the woman was wearing. This tale of death only gets stranger from there.

[via Quiet Earth & Twitch]

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After the item has been listed in the shop for several months, K2DVD.com has now announced the release date for the Korean Blu-ray Disc release of Chan-wook Park’s Thirst (Bakjwi, 박쥐) coming on June 18th.
As you can see in the picture below, CJ Entertainment will use the same kind of fold-out digipak as in their recent Blu-ray Disc releases, but thanks to Kang-ho Song and Kim Ok-bin’s indecent (at least for Korea) pose, this one will stick out in your shelf.
Although it isn’t mentioned in the item description, the runtime of 144 minutes would mean that this release (unlike the Region B release from Palisades-Tartan running for 133 minutes) will include the longer director’s cut version of the film that was screened during last year’s Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) in October. I just hope K2DVD didn’t add the runtime of the extra features to this figure like they sometimes do…

Pre-order THIRST on Blu-ray Disc from YesAsia.com

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Great news for fans of director Chan-wook Park’s teen angsty-less vampire drama Thirst (Bakjwi, 박쥐).
Today the Asian retailer YesAsia.com added the Korean 3-Disc DVD release (coming March 15, 2010) that will not only include the theatrical cut (that’s already available on DVD and Blu-ray Disc) but also the extended director’s cut with English subtitles. The latter was screened during last year’s Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) in October with about ten minutes of added and extended scenes.
Judging from the product photo, CJ Entertainment’s release should (as always) also put the packaging of the recent International releases to shame, especially since it features the “banned” artwork with Kim Ok-bin’s intact legs. If the already announced Korean Blu-ray Disc release will also include the Director’s cut is currently not known.
Preorder Thirst 3-Disc Special Edition at YesAsia.com

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Wow, talking about good timing. Just when I got my copy of Palisades-Tartan’s UK Blu-ray Disc of Thirst (Region B, see 40 screen shots here), CJ Entertainment announces two new Korean releases. Next to Chan-wook Park’s vampire thriller, the Korean distributor will also release the first Korean disaster film Haeundae on Blu-ray Disc on March 15, 2010 according to K2DVD.com. CJ Entertainment’s BD releases have been region free and technically impressive (see The Good, The Bad, The Weird, Memories of Murder, Mother & Tazza) so far and maybe we will even see the longer cut of Thirst on this release…
[via Blu-ray.com Forum]

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And talking of Chan-Wook Park’s vengeance trilogy: Rick Stelow, director of marketing at Palisades-Tartan USA has just informed me that the already announced Vengeance Trilogy Blu-ray Disc Box including Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, OldBoy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance will be released on March 16th as a Best Buy exclusive in a limited edition tin packaging. Other retailers will have to wait until June 15th and will only get the standard slipcase packaging. As a consolation for all the bummed importers, I’ve listed the bonus features of the box set below.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance:
- Audio commentary by Park Chan-Wook and actor Ryoo Seung-wan
- Behind the scenes
- The Process of Mr. Vengeance
- My Boksu Story, Storyboards
- Photo Gallery
- Filmographies
- Film notes
- Crew Interviews
Oldboy:
- Three audio commentaries
- Five behind-the-scenes featurettes
- Le Grand Prix at Cannes
- Deleted scenes with commentary
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance:
- Regular and Fade-To-White versions
- Character Interviews
- Lady Vengeance at the 62nd Venice Film Festival
- Trailer
- Film notes
- Making of
- Deleted scenes

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Oh boy, I do love reading headlines like this in my feedreader in the morning. Beyond Hollywood reports that Warner Bros. has acquired the rights for Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, the first part of Chan-Wook Park’s Vengeance trilogy, and is currently working on a remake. Steven Schneider, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian are supposed to produce while Brian Tucker is currently working on the script.

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Region A fans of Chan-wook Park rejoice! Palisades-Tartan announced in their newsletter to release the Korean director’s Vengeance Trilogy consisting of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, OldBoy and (Sympathy for) Lady Vengeance in North America in March 2010 on Blu-ray Disc together with its DVD counterpart! While OldBoy has been available on Region A Blu-ray Disc for some time now, the other two parts of the amazing trilogy just got released as Region B locked in the UK.
[via DVDTalk Forum]

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Good news for Chan-wook Park fans who want to quench their thirst for high definition. DVD Times reports that Palisades Tartan will release the vampire thriller Thirst in the UK on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on January 25, 2010.
Since the label only got the distribution rights for the UK, the Blu-ray Disc will most likely be coded for Region B like their recent releases. Focus Features will release Thirst on November 17th in North America but sadly only on DVD.

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Blarg! Latino Review exclusively reports that Stephen Spielberg and Will Smith’s adaptation of OldBoy (not based on Chan-wook Park’s 20003 film, but the original Japanese manga by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi according to Smith) has been canned.
The report doesn’t mention specific reasons, but I guess the licensing problems that appeared last month could have something to do with it. While this may be great news for fans of Park’s amazing adaptation, I don’t think this was Hollywood’s last try to bring this story to the big screen itself.

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