website tracking
Search The Big Picture

« Weekend Recap: 'Transformers,' Michael Jackson, Peter Jackson Updates | Main | An American Remake in London »
Monday
29Jun2009

'Oldboy' Remake Goes Forward Despite Legal Issues

DateMonday, June 29, 2009 at 1:25AM
The updating of Oldboy by Steven Spielberg and Will Smith was notorious enough already, but now comes news that the rights to the original film may not even be available. The plans for the remake are still moving forward despite some efforts by Futabasha, the original publisher of the manga comic book series on which Park Chan-Wook's 2003 film was based.

Futabasha claims that Show East, the production company behind the film and the group that sold the Oldboy rights to Universal, never had the final word on such an arrangement. Here's where it gets really tricky: Not only does Universal not own the rights anymore (they were spun off to DreamWorks, where the film is in development), Show East no longer exists and its CEO, Kim Dong-Ju, is nowhere to be found.

Complicating matters further, Big Egg, another production company involved in the original film, has also closed its doors, meaning that the two company Futabasha worked with over five years ago have vanished, and the American company on the other side of the arrangement at one time is now twice removed.

To paraphrase Aretha: Who's suing who?

Therefore, nobody who handed the rights over to Universal is still around, so if they need Futabasha's permission for the go-ahead and went ahead without it, Futabasha must either pry the rights back in South Korean court or that court will favor disbanded companies from its own country and not hold up the production of the film, screwing the original publisher in the process.

DreamWorks won't comment, although it's highly improbable that Futabasha would look to quash the remake, especially with the world's biggest filmmaker and biggest movie star on board. More than likely, the company will try to wrest away some money on the back end.

It's a pretty messed up situation, in no small measure because you're dealing with international rights and companies from three countries. It seems like the simplest solution is a payout, which could be what this has been about all along.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | CommentPost a Comment |

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>