Netflix's Black Samurai Movie Gets The Director Of John Wick, The Writer Of Raising Dion
Stuntman-turned-director Chad Stahelski is keeping awfully busy these days. The "John Wick" creator is set to release the fourth installment of the action-packed franchise, and according to The Hollywood Reporter he has just been tapped to direct the upcoming "Black Samurai" movie for Netflix. Stahelski is teaming up with Leigh Dana Jackson, one of the co-executive producers of the superpower series "Raising Dion" to write the script, which will be an adaptation of Marc Olden's "Black Samurai" novel series.
Netflix hasn't provided much information regarding the film, but the "Black Samurai" book series is comprised of eight novels, all Blaxploitation stories set in the 1970s and centered on American soldier Robert Sand, who is on leave in Japan and learns the most powerful forms of martial arts to become the Black Samurai. It seems safe to assume that the film will focus on the vengeance plot of the first novel after terrorists butcher Sand's sensei (Stahelski has experience with revenge plots, after all).
Stahelski will also produce the film along with Jason Spitz and Alex Young of his banner 87Eleven Entertainment. According to THR, John Schoenfelder and Russell Ackerman of Addictive Pictures are also producing, and were "instrumental in securing the rights." This is not the first time Olden's story has been given the adaptation treatment, as prolific exploitation director Al Adamson ("Psycho A-Go-Go," "Dracula vs. Frankenstein") tried his hand with 1977's "Black Samurai." That film starred Jim Kelly (pictured above), whom martial arts film fans may recognize for his role opposite Bruce Lee in 1973's "Enter the Dragon."
Netflix is all in on Black samurai stories
The "Black Samurai" movie will be the third (well, fourth if you count a character in the one-season series "Daybreak") time that Netflix has ventured into the world of Black samurai. The streamer currently hosts the animated series "Yasuke," which sees LaKeith Stanfield voicing the titular hero loosely based on the real-life historical figure of the same name. Yasuke was an African warrior who served under Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga during the Sengoku period of samurai conflict in 16th-century Japan, and has been borderline deified in the centuries that followed. Just last month it was announced that "Lupin" star Omar Sy had been cast to play Yasuke in a live-action series — not based on the streamer's existing anime, but instead a more accurate interpretation of the figure's history.
"Black Samurai" takes a very different approach to the world of martial arts, but it's important to note that Marc Olden was a student of martial arts for his entire life. At the time of his death in 2003, Olden held advanced degree black belts in both aikido and karate. Aligning Olden's books with Chad Stahelski and Leigh Dana Jackson sounds like a perfect combination, and considering Netflix was willing to go full-on Blaxploitation appreciation with "Dolemite is My Name," this new film has all the ingredients necessary for success.