In Spike Lee’s upcoming Old Boy remake, Josh Brolin plays Joe Doucett, a man who’s inexplicably abducted and held captive in a hotel – one that’s actually a prison – for nearly 20 years before he’s equally inexplicably set free one day. Once he’s let out, Joe goes on a vengeful quest to uncover the identify of the man who imprisoned him and learn exactly why he lost all those years of his life.

Brolin wasn’t able to make an appearance in person on Friday at Film District’s Oldboy panel at New York Comic-Con 2013, but he did send along a video message – with tiny cardboard hammer in hand – to introduce some new exclusive footage from the film, which won’t be released online for some time, we were told.

Footage description is here below, along with photos and news from the panel.

Making an appearance on the panel were writer Mark Protosevich and stars Michael Imperioli, who plays Joe’s best friend Chucky, and Pom Klementieff, who plays Haeng-Bok, the female version of Mr. Han, the security guard from the original film. As the stars came out on stage, so did the Oldboy Hotel escorts in their purple attire, holding yellow umbrellas, who then stood at each end of the room through the entire panel.

Klementieff talked mostly about training for her role, which was heavy on physical action; Imperioli, best known for his turn on HBO’s The Sopranos, has collaborated several times before with director Spike Lee and his character gives Joe safe haven after his release and helps him to rebuild his life.

Writer Mark Protosevich did most of the talking, especially since he seemed to have to answer to most of the topics of the audience Q&A, which centered on things like why remake the original, how his script differs from the South Korean film, and if the studio (Film District) wanted him to make a less graphic and bloody film, possibly lowering the R rating.
“It’s just as psychologically screwed up as the original,” the writer said when asked if the new movie would be a psychological thriller like the foreign version.

Protosevich made it a point to say that he knows there’s a large contingency on the internet who dislike remakes in general and find them unnecessary, but he asked that movie goers at least give the upcoming film a chance. He stressed that he was a fan of the original movie and wanted to stay true to it and show it respect, while at the same time, adding his own unique twist to the story. He also said that because it’s not being done by a major movie studio, it was more of an indie in spirit and his hands were tied.

The writer also talked about how when he initially signed on for the project, about five years ago, it was supposed to be a film directed by Steven Spielberg starring Will Smith. But because he was so invested in the story, he decided to stay on and ended up having a good relationship with Lee and got behind Brolin as the lead.

Old Boy, which also stars Elizabeth Olsen and Sharlto Copley, comes to theaters on Oldboy opens in theaters on November 27, 2013.

Footage Description

We see Joe Doucett in his hotel room/prison; there’s tally marks on his hands and this appears to be the day of his release. Once outside, we see him in a Chinese restaurant; Joe watches as a man comes to pick up a large takeout order. The cashier says to the man “the usual” as he hands over the bags. Joe follows the man out to his car, down an alleyway where he grabs a hammer from someone working there. He then takes off on one of the delivery bikes filled with a basket of bags of food. Joe takes off on the bike through the streets following the man in his car, eventually stopping at a tall building. Joe goes into the building with the hammer out and sneaks in still following guy with the food, but not before he uses the hammer to take out the security guy. Joe finally confronts the man with the food and smashes him in the face, blood pouring down his face. Joe then goes up in the elevator, holding the bags of food up to hide his face from the security cameras. Upon exiting the elevator, Joe hammers the next security guys’ head in. He looks up and sees the security cameras that show the other prisoners in their rooms, which are being watched by Samuel L. Jackson’s character, Chaney. Next scene, Joe has Chaney tied up; he is using a Sharpie to draw a slashed line across Chaney’s neck. When he’s done, he takes out a box cutter and starts cutting the flesh from Chaney’s neck. Chaney shouts, “You better think about what you’re doing!” and Joe replies, “I’ve been thinking about this for the last twenty years” as he continues to cut out parts of Chaney’s skin. In an effort to save himself, Chaney tells Joe that if he stops now, he might get out alive; Joe says “I’m going to keep going til I can pull your fucking head off.”

Panel Photos (click thumbnails for larger, full view)

[All panel photos by Dave3 for Geeks Of Doom.]

Stay posted on New York Comic-Con 2013 updates by following @eveofdoom and @geeksofdoom on Twitter and Facebook. And check back here at Geeks of Doom for more news from us on NYCC 2013!