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Warner Bros Remaking Chan-Wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

by Alex Billington
January 7, 2010

What happened to that Oldboy remake with Will Smith? Variety is reporting tonight that Warner Brothers has acquired remakes right to Park Chan-wook's 2002 film Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, this first in his brutal but brilliant Vengeance Trilogy. The studio has already assigned Brian Tucker (of the upcoming Broken City) to write the script. Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers, G.I. Joe) is producing along with Mark Vahradian, Miky Lee, Ted Kim, and Paranormal Activity producer Steven Schneider. Interestingly, French filmmaker and JCVD director Mabrouk El Mechri is also executive producing. An odd mix of people.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is the one film from the Vengeance Trilogy that I haven't seen yet, so I can't speak to it. The film is a "bleak and violent tale of revenge gone wrong." It tells the story of a poor man who kidnaps a young girl to pay for his sister's much-needed transplant. When the young girl accidentally dies, her bereaved father goes on a search for answers and vengeance. My first concern regarding any remake of a Park Chan-wook film is how they'll be able to make it without including all the insane brutality and violence that Park does. They better hire a director as brilliant at Martin Scorsese to handle this or we're screwed.

Explore tags: Movie News, Opinions

sdfsafs

I absolutely loved this movie!
d1rEct

I don't think I will waste my time expressing my disgust.
tobi,leader of the akatsuki

what an asian classic,that's gonna be fucked right up when it's remade.(will smith fuck off,all he ever wants to do is getting jiggy with it.)
In-Rainbows

I wish they'd stop regurgitating great foreign films. Shows how Hollywood is in fact dead.
http://www.welurk.com greak

Oldboy is the best revenge movie ever. Sympathy for lady vengeance and sympathy for Mr vengeance are awesome movies . You MUST see them.
Linkfx

Oldboy and Lady Vengeance are revenge cartoons, Park succumbing to his own hype and drifting further away from story. Mr.Vengeance is great layered, textured, nuanced and thrilling. Very gritty with memorably twisted scenes of violence, murder and torture. I'm sure the studio will fuck it up.
whomever

Pffft....good luck.
lego

ya. this just went from fail to epic fail. all 3 are being remade now. finally. heh. fuckin ridiculous.
JP

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance was one of the most non-entertaining films i have EVER seen. Though the ending was effective and even clever. I think David Cronenburg would be the best fit to direct because of the way he handles violence-real and disturbing.
Matt S

@6 You're absolutely right about "Mr. Vengeance" it's BY FAR the best of the trilogy! You need to see that one Alex. It rippedme apart emotionally. @9 "Mr. Vengeance" is fantastic, my friend.
DoomCanoe

Mr. Vengeance was my favorite of the trilogy. I can not believe its being remade seeing as how no one will be able to make it feel as raw as Park Chan-wook did.
JP

@10 I didn't mean to say it's a bad film, it's actually very good on many accounts, it just wasn't an enjoyable movie. It's cruel and emotionally draining. It pretty difficult to watch, but that's not to say it isn't a well-done film by any means.
Kevin

I loved all 3 of these movies, but there is NO WAY that anyone in Hollywood has the balls to remake these movies properly. I know that Old Boy was a manga first and that the Hollywood version was supposed to be a retelling of the manga (so at least that's somewhat understandable), but to my knowledge, Mr. Vengeance is an original story and there is no way Warner Brothers will do it justice.
Chris H.

No way to Americanize these films without destroying what made them great.
Duude

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance has less decorations than Oldboy, and much darker. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is the opposite of "I'm a cyborg, but that's OK", another of Park's film: a unique romantic comedy starring Raiiiiiiiiin and a very adorable actress. The latter movie is what happens when Park's darkness meets cuteoverload.
Kris

Just so some of you morons know, Old Boy was gonna be a remake, it was going to be different...Oldboy is a Manga so your nus actually know. Some you need to stop with the "omfg teh remakes epic fail...I must cry liek teh baby now" seriously STFU and grow the hell up it's nothing but a trend now...How can you people STILL complain about this? I mean the remakes have been going on now for a few years, it's just gonna happen...god it's so annoying to seen othing but complaining about remakes...Just deal with it...As soon as I seen this I was like " ugh, there's gonna be some much whining about this", I was right you little nerdy kids never stop!
9mm

13 and 14 are right! Hollywood simply doesnt have the balls to make these films. Its got nothing to do with the acting, or directing. We got just as much ability as anyone else. Its the Hollywood bigwigs, and Studio Execs that will ruin the remakes.
Toni

NOOOOO!!! And #16--we are not all teenaged fanboys or "nerdy little kids" as you so stupidly put it...I'm 37 and a chick. Don't call people who are disappointed, whiners. We have seen the trouble that Hollywood has wrought in the past, and we are afraid that those who have never seen the original will not take the time to see it, if the re-make is crap. But, I suppose, is their loss. As for we fans, we can always forgo the remake, so long as curiosity doesn't kill us.
Eric

#2, my sentiments exactly.