Colin Firth to play villain in Oldboy remake

Press Trust Of IndiaLos Angeles, November 13, 2011

First Published: 17:28 IST(13/11/2011)
Last Updated: 17:29 IST(13/11/2011)

Colin Firth holds the awards for Best Actor and ensemble for The King's Speech.

After playing a British king in The King's Speech, Colin Firth is all set to become a villain in his next movie.

The 51-year-old Oscar-winning actor has been offered to tackle the main antagonist in a remake of Park Chan-wook's South Korean revenge classic, Oldboy, reported Ace Showbiz.

Firth has been eyed to play Adrian, a role which was previously offered to Christian Bale. Adrian is described as the nemesis of Josh Brolin's lead character. While the male lead has already been tapped, the project is still looking for an actress. Previously, Rooney Mara became the top pick to star as the leading woman, but she turned the offer down.

Oldboy centers on a recently paroled middle-aged man, who spent 15 years in prison without any explanation as to why he was jailed. He then seeks revenge on those who conspired against him. The original version of the movie was released in 2003 and won the Grand Prize Jury Award at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

DreamWorks was actually planning to develop the remake back in 2008. At that time, the studio was in the early talks with Steven Spielberg and Will Smith to direct and star in the project respectively.

However, a deal had never been sealed until it was confirmed that the remake will be developed at Mandate Pictures with Spike Lee serving behind the lens and 'Thor' writer Mark Protosevich penning the script.

Hindustan Times