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Live-Action English-Language Lone Wolf And Cub Film Planned in 2017
posted on by Egan Loo
SP International Pictures announced that it acquired the rights to produce a live-action, English-language movie of Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima's samurai manga Lone Wolf and Cub. The company plans to begin shooting the film in 2017 with "an essentially Japanese cast."
According to Variety, the story follows "a noble samurai plotted against and framed in an assassination conspiracy. [The] samurai disobeys his Shogun's orders and becomes an assassin for hire."
SP International Pictures' founder and producer Steven Paul is also the producer of the two live-action Ghost Rider films, the two live-action Tekken films, and the upcoming live-action Ghost in the Shell film starring Scarlett Johansson and Takeshi Kitano.
SP International Pictures acquired the Lone Wolf and Cub rights from Koike Kazuo Gekiga Sonjuku, Inc. Previously, Kamala Film had acquired the rights in 2012 with director Justin Lin (The Fast and the Furious franchise, Better Luck Tomorrow) and writers David and Janet Peoples (Twelve Monkeys). Before Kamala Films, director Darren Aronofsky (Pi, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Black Swan) had tried to secure the film rights to the manga.
The manga already inspired six feature movies starring Tomisaburō Wakayama, four stage plays, and a television series. Dark Horse Comics releases the original manga in North America, while Media Blasters licensed the Japanese live-action television series. AnimEigo licensed the Japanese 1972 live-action film version and its five sequels.
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