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Spike Lee’s ‘Oldboy’ Release Date Pushed Back to Thanksgiving Weekend

By | Published on July 30, 2013
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Those who just can’t wait to see what  director Spike Lee has done in his reinterpretation of Park Chan-wook’s 2003 thriller, Oldboy, will be disappointed to learn the film’s release has been pushed back once again.

Originally scheduled for an Oct. 11 release, FilmDistrict in May rescheduled Lee’s Oldboy remake for Oct. 25. Now the distributor has inexplicably moved the film to the very crowded date of Nov. 27, which is the day before Thanksgiving.

So is FilmDistrict on a suicide mission by rescheduling Oldboy for that fully loaded holiday weekend?

On the previous release date of Oct. 25, Oldboy’s competitors were only The Counselor, starring Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, and Brad Pitt; and  Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa Comedy.

Now the film will be facing more competition because opening Thanksgiving holiday weekend are the Disney animated movie Frozen; Jason Statham’s action film, Homefront, co-starring James Franco; Nicole Kidman’s Grace Of Monaco, as well as the thriller Out of the Furnace starring Christian Bale, Casey Affleck and Zoe Saldana.

Let’s not forget that two other black films are also set to open Thanksgiving weekend. Black Nativity, starring Jennifer Hudson; and Idris Elba’s Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom (limited release). Both films are sure to cannibalize some of Lee’s following.

So unless FilmDistrict knows something we don’t, the move seems senseless.

Oldboy stars Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley and Samuel L. Jackson. Lee directs from a script penned by Mark Protosevich, who is also co-producing, along with Roy Lee, Doug Davison and Nathan Kahane.

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