It’s official! Sharlto Copley has been casted as the villain in Spike Lee’s Oldboy remake! That’s exciting, right?
If you don’t recognize Mr. Copley, it’s probably because he isn’t transforming into a grotesque alien or acting like the lovably insane member of a team of mercenary soldiers of fortune. I am, of course, referring to his roles in the sci-fi film District 9 and the big-screen adaptation of The A-Team. Copley will fill the shoes of Ji-Tae Yu, the Korean actor who played the villain in the Park Chan-wook original. Whether or not the villain will be exactly the same is a totally different story.
Copley will join Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Olsen in the Spike Lee project. Honestly, with the caliber of actors joining this project — and I know I am going to get crucified for this — but I actually don’t mind the remake. I’m pretty open-minded about remakes. (I actually didn’t hate the Footloose remake!) Oldboy is one of my favorite movies and the story is good (and disturbing) enough to be told again through an American lens. It is totally up to Spike in whether or not it will suck. If it does, then that’s when I will start complaining.
