If you’re surprised by this, read on. It’s not that shocking.

The thought of Steven Spielberg and Will Smith working together on a project piques our curiosity, but the latest news about a Spielberg - Smith collaboration an Oldboy remake initially left us scratching our heads until we let it simmer for a few minutes.

Variety reports that both Spielberg and Smith have been eyeing projects that would bring the two together, with the director and actor now considering a remake of Korean director Chan Wook-Park’s dark 2003 thriller Oldboy, about a businessman on the hunt for those who kidnapped him after 15 years of confinement.

Oldboy? Really?

At first our reaction was, "Why?" Aside from the fact that Park’s Oldboy is only five years old, why remake one of the best films of the past decade when it’s fine the way it is? Then it dawned on a few of us here behind the scenes - Martin Scorsese drew inspiration from the amazing Asian trilogy Infernal Affairs to make The Departed. Interestingly enough, the first >b>Infernal Affairs film and The Departed were only four years apart.

Although it sounds a bit surprising at first, an Oldboy remake as compared to The Departed isn’t that crazy of an idea. However, Scorsese’s style and approach to gritty material is much different than how Spielberg approaches the darker side of life. The darker underbelly of life has been Scorsese’s signature as a filmmaker. And the truth is: neither Spielberg or Scorsese, as great as they, are similar in style to Park.

Given the out-of-the-box and shocking qualities of Oldboy, how Spielberg and an as-yet-to-be-found writer would be able to make this work in today’s Hollywood in the same manner as the original is the biggest challenge. For anyone who hasn’t seen the original, it’ll be an easy sell. Those who love Park’s original might not be so forgiving.