One key question that comes up often in discussions about Spike Lee's Oldboy adaptation/remake/whatever you want to call it, is just how faithful to the original Manga, or Park Chan-wook's 2003 film, this Hollywood adaptation will be.

Will it be just as bold, or will Hollywood *clean* up the narrative a bit so as not to turn off conservative Americana? 

More specifically, will the infamous corridor hammer scene (those who've seen the film know exactly what I'm talking about) be retained in Spike's joint? 

Talking to SlashFilm while doing press for Men In Black 3, star of Oldboy, Josh Brolin, says yes, that scene will be in Spike's film.

Yes, by the way. Yes. And it’s a hammer and knife and all that stuff.

And he adds further:

And then will we keep the octopus, will we keep the other stuff? There’s some changes but I think it’s really good. It still makes me throw down the script half way through. Whoa.

Ok so, the hammer/corridor scene is in; the live octopus eating sequence on the otherhand? Maybe, maybe not. As he says, there are some changes. But he's confident that fans won't be disappointed.

By the way, in Park Chan-wook's film, the octopus eating scene was all real. That really was a live octopus Oh Dae-su (actor Choi Min-sik) was eating, for those who many not be aware.

So the question I'm left with here is, how exactly Spike might shoot that hammer/corridor scene. And I'm sure you can guess where I'm going with this… you know Spike loves to incorporate his famous moving dolly shot in just about all his films, even if it's just once. Might the hammer/hallway sequence be the scene in Oldboy where he opts to incorporate his signature stylo?

Things that make you go hmmm… 🙂

The new Oldboy begins shooting in late September with Spike's 40 Acres & A Mule co-producing. It looks like this definitely will be Spike Lee's next film, after Red Hook Summer, which will be out in August as previously announced.

Watch the "hammer-time" sequence from Park Chan-wook's film below: