Colin Firth has passed on taking a lead role in the upcoming English language remake of Korean director Park Chan-wook’s revenge thriller Oldboy. Firth was up for the role of the man responsible for the mysterious 15-year imprisonment of the film’s protagonist who is set to be played by Josh Brolin.
Firth mentioned that he had been offered the role while he was out recently promoting Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and it sounded like he was interested in the job. There has been no word as to why he ultimately decided not to do the film.
Although I was strongly resistant to the idea of an American remake of this film, I have been slowly warming to it as more details have been revealed. Brolin makes for a good lead. Reportedly screenwriter Mark Protosevich’s script doesn’t water down the original but goes to an even darker place than the original Oldboy did. Perhaps it was that dark place that spooked Firth? Who knows, but if director Spike Lee is able to replace Firth with an actor of equal caliber, than I’m starting to suspect that we may have something to look forward to.
Via Twitch.
