Is there a Korean word for ‘kerfuffle?’ Because there’s a real legal kerfuffle happening in South Korea right now, all based on whether or not the producers of Park Chan-Wook’s Old Boy had any right to sell off the remake. The complainant: Futabasha, the Japanese publisher of the original manga.
But there’s a problem, one that may keep the legal battle tied up like Oh Daesu himself, and that may allow Spielberg and Will Smith from mounting their film: the production company has shut down and the CEO has, according to Reuters, ‘disappeared.’
I’m a little bit confused here, as Spielberg and Smith have said that their film will be more based on the manga (ie, it won’t have the incest element, among other things), so wouldn’t they have to strike some sort of deal with Futabasha? Especially if they’ll be using plot and elements not used in the movie (which apparently deviates quite a bit from the manga)?
At any rate, Reuters reports that Spielberg and Smith are ‘moving forward.’ Fuck the legal shenaningans of these Orientals! Will Smith made it through the humiliation of Seven Pounds; this is nothing to him.
Thanks to Jim Dandy (I suspect this is not his real name) for the link.