Yasuke (D: Bazawule)
05-07-19, 02:27 PM
#1
Moderator
Thread Starter
Yasuke (D: Bazawule)
EXCLUSIVE: Fresh from playing the African warrior king Black Panther in Avengers: Endgame, Chadwick Boseman has officially aligned himself to play Yasuke, the first African samurai to swing a sword in Japan.
Erik Feig’s Picturestart has teamed with Mike De Luca and his De Luca Productions banner, Stephen L’Heureux and his Solipsist banner, and Boseman and Logan Coles’ X●ception Content to produce the film adaptation of the story of Yasuke, who served under Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga in 16th century Japan.
Yasuke was a native of Portuguese Mozambique who was brought to Japan as a slave to Jesuit missionaries. The first black man to set foot on Japanese soil, Yasuke’s arrival aroused the interest of Nobunaga, a ruthless warlord seeking to unite the fractured country under his banner. A complex relationship developed between the two men as Yasuke earned Nobunaga’s friendship, respect — and ultimately, the honor, swords and title of samurai.
Doug Miro is writing the script. he co-created the hit Netflix series Narcos, which he continues to write and exec produce alongside co-creator Carlo Bernard and showrunner Eric Newman.
“The legend of Yasuke is one of history’s best kept secrets, the only person of non-Asian origin to become a Samurai,” Boseman said. “That’s not just an action movie, that’s a cultural event, an exchange, and I am excited to be part of it.”
The Yasuke project has been percolating for awhile and Feig and the producers started it at Lionsgate when Feig headed production there. It shook loose when he left. MGM recently set a rival Yasuke project that has a script by Stuart C. Paul, and Whalerock Industries’ Lloyd Braun and Andrew Mittman producing.
Beyond Black Panther/T’Challa, Boseman has most recently starred as Jackie Robinson in 42, James Brown in Get On Up, and Thurgood Marshall in Marshall. He will next star in STX’s 21 Bridges, which he and Coles also produced along The Russo Brothers. Boseman is represented by Greene & Associates Talent Agency and Management 360.
Coles is represented by Management 360, and this deal was brokered by UTA and completed prior the expiration of WGA/ATA’s franchise agreement on April 12.
Erik Feig’s Picturestart has teamed with Mike De Luca and his De Luca Productions banner, Stephen L’Heureux and his Solipsist banner, and Boseman and Logan Coles’ X●ception Content to produce the film adaptation of the story of Yasuke, who served under Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga in 16th century Japan.
Yasuke was a native of Portuguese Mozambique who was brought to Japan as a slave to Jesuit missionaries. The first black man to set foot on Japanese soil, Yasuke’s arrival aroused the interest of Nobunaga, a ruthless warlord seeking to unite the fractured country under his banner. A complex relationship developed between the two men as Yasuke earned Nobunaga’s friendship, respect — and ultimately, the honor, swords and title of samurai.
Doug Miro is writing the script. he co-created the hit Netflix series Narcos, which he continues to write and exec produce alongside co-creator Carlo Bernard and showrunner Eric Newman.
“The legend of Yasuke is one of history’s best kept secrets, the only person of non-Asian origin to become a Samurai,” Boseman said. “That’s not just an action movie, that’s a cultural event, an exchange, and I am excited to be part of it.”
The Yasuke project has been percolating for awhile and Feig and the producers started it at Lionsgate when Feig headed production there. It shook loose when he left. MGM recently set a rival Yasuke project that has a script by Stuart C. Paul, and Whalerock Industries’ Lloyd Braun and Andrew Mittman producing.
Beyond Black Panther/T’Challa, Boseman has most recently starred as Jackie Robinson in 42, James Brown in Get On Up, and Thurgood Marshall in Marshall. He will next star in STX’s 21 Bridges, which he and Coles also produced along The Russo Brothers. Boseman is represented by Greene & Associates Talent Agency and Management 360.
Coles is represented by Management 360, and this deal was brokered by UTA and completed prior the expiration of WGA/ATA’s franchise agreement on April 12.
05-08-19, 04:47 AM
#2
re: Yasuke (D: Bazawule)
Dammit, I was in a used bookstore yesterday looking for books on Japanese history and there was one on the above figure and I didn't pick it up. Had I known about this movie yesterday, I would have done so.
05-08-19, 11:18 AM
#3
Banned by request
re: Yasuke (D: Bazawule)
If there's any vibe of Ghost Dog or Afro Samurai, then I'm in. This actually sounds pretty damn cool, I'll have to hunt down a book about him and give it a read.
04-10-24, 02:09 PM
#4
Moderator
Thread Starter
re: Yasuke (D: Bazawule)
In a competitive situation, Warner Bros. has landed “The Color Purple” director Blitz Bazawule’s next project, which takes on the legendary Yasuke, an African warrior who became the first Black samurai.
Sources tell Variety that Warner Bros. beat out three other studios and streamers’ bids on the script, tentatively titled “Black Samurai,” which Bazawule wrote on spec and will direct and produce under his Inward Gaze banner.
After impressing the industry with his 2018 debut “The Burial of Kojo,” helming episodes of Ava DuVernay’s “Cherish the Day” and working with Beyoncé on her feature-length visual album “Black Is King,” Bazawule made his major studio debut with 2023’s “The Color Purple.”
The Ghanaian filmmaker, who brought his unique visual language to the Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg-produced musical movie, is said to have done the same with his take on Yasuke, an African warrior who served under Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga during the Sengoku period of samurai conflict in 16th century Japan. Instead of a traditional biopic, the film invokes shades of “300” and “Max Max.” Exact plot points are still under wraps.
When Bazawule was named to Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch list earlier this year, he reflected on the daunting task of mounting his musical reimagining of Alice Walker’s 1982 classic.
“When you get the opportunity to even pitch for it, the first question becomes, ‘What are you possibly going to add to this canon?’ That was my first biggest piece of anxiety,” Bazawule said. His solution: leaning into Celie’s imagination by employing magical realism to illustrate how this oppressed woman found her way to freedom.
Sources tell Variety that Warner Bros. beat out three other studios and streamers’ bids on the script, tentatively titled “Black Samurai,” which Bazawule wrote on spec and will direct and produce under his Inward Gaze banner.
After impressing the industry with his 2018 debut “The Burial of Kojo,” helming episodes of Ava DuVernay’s “Cherish the Day” and working with Beyoncé on her feature-length visual album “Black Is King,” Bazawule made his major studio debut with 2023’s “The Color Purple.”
The Ghanaian filmmaker, who brought his unique visual language to the Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg-produced musical movie, is said to have done the same with his take on Yasuke, an African warrior who served under Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga during the Sengoku period of samurai conflict in 16th century Japan. Instead of a traditional biopic, the film invokes shades of “300” and “Max Max.” Exact plot points are still under wraps.
When Bazawule was named to Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch list earlier this year, he reflected on the daunting task of mounting his musical reimagining of Alice Walker’s 1982 classic.
“When you get the opportunity to even pitch for it, the first question becomes, ‘What are you possibly going to add to this canon?’ That was my first biggest piece of anxiety,” Bazawule said. His solution: leaning into Celie’s imagination by employing magical realism to illustrate how this oppressed woman found her way to freedom.
