Charlize Theron‘s adaptation of Park Chan-wook‘s SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE now has a screenwriter. William Monahan will script the English language remake. Monahan is best known for writing THE DEPARTED and KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
IndieWire reports no start date for production or who will direct. The last rumored name was Danny Boyle. Theron just recently finished filming MAD MAX: FURY ROAD.
SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE was the final part of the Vengeance Trilogy which also featured SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE and OLDBOY. OLDBOY is currently being remade by Spike Lee and Josh Brolin.
SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE shares thematic similarities with OLDBOY, but is a very distinct movie. Here’s the plot: After thirteen and half years in prison for kidnapping and murdering the boy Park Won-mo, Geum-ja Lee is released and tries to fix her life. She finds a job in a bakery; she orders the manufacturing of a special weapon; she reunites with her daughter, who was adopted by an Australian family; and she plots revenge against the real killer of Won-mo, the English teacher Mr. Baek. With the support of former inmates from prison, Geum-ja seeks an unattained redemption with her vengeance.
Theron is a hell of an actress. Her performances in MONSTER and YOUNG ADULT alone give me faith that she would pull this off. Monahan is a good screenwriter, but this project really needs a skilled director who can give the movie a unique visual style to make it stand apart from the original.
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