Neon Lands U.S. Rights to Park Chan-wook’s ‘Oldboy,’ Sets Theatrical Release for 20th Anniversary

Rebecca Rubin
·2 min read
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Neon has landed U.S. distribution rights to South Korean director Park Chan-wook’s film “Oldboy” and plans to bring the dark revenge thriller back to theaters in honor of its 20th anniversary.

It will mark the first time Park’s film plays on the big screen since its initial release on Nov. 21, 2003. Neon has not specified the exact date that “Oldboy” will return to the big screen.

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“Oldboy,” which Park co-wrote with Hwang Jo-yun and Lim Joon-hyung, won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, led by jury president Quentin Tarantino. The acclaimed film stars Choi Min-sik as Oh Dae-Su, a man who was kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years. After he’s released, he has five days to find his captor. Yoo Ji-tae and Kang Hye-jung co-star in the film.

It’s the second installment in Park’s “Vengeance” trilogy following 2002’s “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance” and preceding 2005’s “Lady Vengeance.” The film has been remade twice, including a less-praised 2013 version directed by Spike Lee and starring Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Olsen.

Though “Oldboy” received rapturous reviews, the film received a very limited theatrical run (and generated only $707,000) in North America. In 2004, Variety called the movie a “wild, intensely cinematic ride.” Film critic Derek Elley noted the “David Lynch-like movie look almost untranslatable in Hollywood’s increasingly conservative environment,” which may explain why “Oldboy” didn’t have a bigger theatrical rollout in the United States at the time.

Park’s next film “Decision to Leave” premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and will travel next to the Toronto International Film Festival. The romantic mystery drama is South Korea’s best international feature film entry at the 95th Academy Awards.

Neon’s Jeff Deutchman negotiated the deal with Thierry Wase-Bailey at Celsius.

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