Rooney Mara Says No To OLDBOY

by Todd Brown, October 20, 2011 6:13 PM

At the end of September Twitch reported that producers of Spike Lee's upcoming remake of Oldboy were targeting The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo's Rooney Mara for the lead female role. Well, they're going to have to keep looking.

Variety's Justin Kroll tweeted yesterday that Mara has passed on the part, so producers will have to keep making their way down the wishlist to land someone opposite Josh Brolin.

8 Comments

by jwalk415, October 20, 2011 8:12 PM

The lesson of the day is: Say no to drugs, say no to POINTLESS (aka STUPID) U.S. remakes.

WhyOfFry replied to comment from jwalk415, October 21, 2011 5:38 AM

And say no to pointless news like "producers would like to have [some actor] in their movie". A thing Todd Brown himself wrote a rant against, as far as I can remember.

Ard Vijn replied to comment from WhyOfFry, October 21, 2011 7:20 AM

The difference here is "would like to have" versus "are in negotiations with". A wish is not news, substantiated negotiations are. For a while it seemed like most film sites were posting major revelatory articles around what turned out to be a fan's wish list but in this case that stage had been passed already.

The question when news is actually news is of course always a valid one, same as when is a rumor a scoop. Todd is fairly careful with his scoops (also so you don't drown in these articles here at Twitch), which is also what caused his rant about "wish lists" a while back.

Todd Brown replied to comment from Ard Vijn, October 21, 2011 10:03 AM

Mara was offered the role, which is news. A list of 'here's ten people who would be awesome!' is not.

WhyOfFry replied to comment from Todd Brown, October 23, 2011 9:25 AM

Ok, got it.
My bad (:

by Major_Rager, October 20, 2011 9:43 PM

Leave these great Asian titles alone, Hollywood! The only people you will entertain are those who are unfamiliar with AKIRA in the first place, but yet the only people who will actually go and watch it are true AKIRA fans who will more than likely stay at home and watch a pirated copy because they know it will not be worth their money. SAVE YOUR MONEY.

Todd Brown replied to comment from Major_Rager, October 20, 2011 9:53 PM

While I understand the sentiment the simple fact is that this is flagrantly not true. Look up the DVD sales numbers for a typical Asian film release. Ones that sell exceptionally well end up in the 50 - 100k unit range. And those are the freakish exceptions. The good ones end up in the 20 - 50k range and a big percentage can't even break 10k. Even a mediocre English version of AKIRA or OLDBOY will sell shitloads more theater tickets and DVDs everywhere outside of Asia than the original versions can ever hope to. It's a simple fact.

Take even a HORRIBLE English remake like MY SASSY GIRL and that film got theatrical releases in eight territories and DVD releases in ten more. The original had a theatrical release in only three territories and, according to the IMDB, a DVD release in only one territory outside of those.

Not only does not everyone share your tastes and feelings the vast majority of people don't. That's just how it is, how it always has been and how it always will be. Enjoy what you enjoy but why waste energy screaming about what other people like and how the entertainment business chooses to service them? You actually allude to this in your own comment without seeming to realize it. "The only people you will entertain are those who are unfamiliar with AKIRA in the first place." You know who that is? Just about everyone.

Swarez replied to comment from Todd Brown, October 21, 2011 9:35 AM

Aaaaand. Hard core Akira fans will go see the remake in the theaters or buy the DVD, so they can have something to potentially bitch about.

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Rooney Mara Says No To OLDBOY

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