Spike Lee is directing a new Oldboy with Josh Brolin, and now the Weinsteins are getting in on the South Korean action. Their Dimension Films has just picked up the rights to **The Man From Nowhere, and given Shawn Christensen the translation job.
The original film was written and directed by Lee Jeong-beom in 2010. It starred Won Bin as a former black-ops man for the Korean government, now living a hermetic existence as the owner of a pawn shop. He's forced to break out his martial arts bad-assery when he unwittingly takes delivery of a camera bag containing drugs, and attracts the attention of its original traffickers. They're not nice guys - they're also into slavery and organ harvesting - and when they take Bin's next door neighbour and her daughter as insurance, it's go time...
The Man From Nowhere was Korea's highest grossing film in its year of release (trouncing western competition like Iron Man 2), so it's no surprise that it's picked up some international attention. Bob Weinstein says that "It's a slick, fast-paced action thriller anchored by a strong emotional relationship that audiences are going to love. We have always been huge action and martial arts fans, and are getting back into the genre in a big way with this."
Christensen, who wrote the Taylor Lautner vehicle Abduction, says: "I'm excited and honoured to work alongside Bob and the team at Dimension. I'm a huge fan of the original The Man From Nowhere, and look forward to bringing it to American audiences."
Give us all your usual "too-stoopid-for-subtitles" remake bemoaning in the comments below, and watch this space for updates.