The remake of the 1954 classic has emerged from the planning stages.
The first point at which we can really take a movie seriously is when it’s given a director. In this case, the project – currently under the working title Seven Samurai – will be helmed by Scott Mann, who recently directed The Tournament.
The original, which was directed by early film master Akira Kurosawa, and which is now available in the Criterion Collection, is a three-hour film which tells the story of a small village who hire a team of samurai to protect them from raiders.
Without the help of the samurai, the village will starve, but they are only seven men against an army of bandits.
The villagers, however, initially distrust the warriors, and the town must learn to work with the samurai for their defense.
The conflict deepens when the samurai discover that in the past, the village has had a policy of murdering passing samurai to rob them of their valuable swords and armor.
The classic epic tale has been remade several times, including The Magnificent Seven in the 60’s, which reimagined the story in the American Old West, and Samurai 7 (my favorite adaptation) last decade, which placed the story in a dystopian future society.
It has also influences countless other films throughout cinematic history – including seemingly unlikely films such as Trainspotting and Home Alone – and is often referred to as one of the most influential films ever, as some of its structural properties are now standard parts of everyday filmmaking.
The new film will be produced by a joint effort between the Weinstein Company and Japan’s Kurosawa Prods. and will have a budget of $60 Million. Shooting will begin later this year.
Young Guns screenwriter John Fusco moves the story to modern Thiland, where a small village hires a band of paramilitary contractors. Such contractors aren’t really as romanticized as Samurai or Cowboys, but maybe they’ve found a way to make it work.
No word yet on who will star in the film, and there is no date yet set for theatrical release.
