Posted by Nick Newman on
http://thefilmstage.com/news/rooney-mara-being-pursued-for-spike-lees-oldboy/
Josh Brolin has already been confirmed as the lead of Oldboy, while Christian Bale is reportedly in some negotiation stage for the villain. Those of you who have seen Park Chan-wook‘s South Korean revenge thriller know that Spike Lee only has one more major role to cast: the female. Twitch may know who that is, as they tell us that Rooney Mara is the top pick to play the crucial character.
Although nobody is in talks at the moment, they do note that their report of Brolin‘s involvement happened at this same stage. Take into account them also being the first to hear about Lee directing, and it’s safe to assume that this rumor has some truth behind it. The selection probably comes courtesy of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; not only will that be one of the winter’s biggest releases, but her lead performance shows that she can take on gritty, dark material, which Oldboy most certainly is.
I won’t get into spoilers here, but some very unsettling incidents surround the woman in the original film. The remake needs either the exact event or something similar to deliver that same impact, although Mark Protosevich‘s screenplay will implement “characters and scenarios from the source material as a launching point while also jettisoning several key elements and events from the original film and working significant amounts of entirely new material into the mix,” among other things. Altering occurrences for a new telling is fine by me, but, please — don’t change that element.
Ignoring any story beats that may or may not be retained for the stateside interpretation, Mara is a piece of casting that I can support. The mix of softness that’s been exhibited in earlier work, combined with a toughness that’s sure to be on display in the aforementioned Dragon Tattoo, gives her the requirements for this part. Brolin, Bale, and her in a violent revenge movie directed by Spike Lee? Impossible to resist.
