Member AlbertV Posted May 30, 2008 Member Share Posted May 30, 2008 Filming is underway on Ninja Assassin, being directed by James McTeigue (V For Vendetta) from a screenplay by Matthew Sand and J. Michael Straczynski. Joel Silver, Grant Hill, Larry Wachowski and Andy Wachowski are producing, with Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and William Fay serving as executive producers. Ninja Assassin stars Korean pop star Rain (Speed Racer) as the central character, Raizo; Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End) as Europol researcher Mika Coretti; Ben Miles (V For Vendetta) as Europol Agent Ryan Maslow; legendary martial arts performer Sho Kosugi (Revenge of the Ninja) as the ruthless leader of the Ozunu Clan; and Rick Yune (Die Another Day) as Raizo's rival, Takeshi. Principal photography is taking place at Babelsberg Studios and on location in various parts of Berlin. Ninja Assassin follows Raizo (Rain), one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them... and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge. In Berlin, Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) has stumbled upon a money trail linking several political murders to an underground network of untraceable assassins from the Far East. Defying the orders of her superior, Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles), Mika digs into top secret agency files to learn the truth behind the murders. Her investigation makes her a target, and the Ozunu Clan sends a team of killers, led by the lethal Takeshi (Rick Yune), to silence her forever. Raizo saves Mika from her attackers, but he knows that the Clan will not rest until they are both eliminated. Now, entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse through the streets of Europe, Raizo and Mika must trust one another if they hope to survive...and finally bring down the elusive Ozunu Clan. The behind-the-scenes creative team includes director of photography Karl Walter Lindenlaub, production designer Graham "Grace" Walker, costume designer Carlo Poggioli and editor Giancarlo Ganziano. The Wachowski brothers' longtime stunt coordinators Chad Stahelski and David Leitch are also on board as second unit co-directors. Ninja Assassin is a Warner Bros. Pictures presentation in association with Legendary Pictures and Dark Castle Entertainment. Awesome that SHO KOSUGI IS BACK!!!! Courtesy: http://www.darkhorizons.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member oldeschool17 Posted May 30, 2008 Member Share Posted May 30, 2008 good to hear kosugi is back in action. Lets hope this film is not lame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted May 31, 2008 Member Share Posted May 31, 2008 I heard SHO KOSUGI was going to make a comeback and I for one will be looking forward to this movie, it would've been cool to see Sonny Chiba and him together in a Ninja Movie, hey I can Dream Right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted May 31, 2008 Member Share Posted May 31, 2008 I read a couple years ago Kosugi was making a comeback in a film entitled THE RETURN OF THE NINJA. Was this a working title for this film? Sounds excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tosh Posted May 31, 2008 Member Share Posted May 31, 2008 Ninja Assassin follows Raizo (Rain), I really hope Raizo is a homage to Raizo Ichikawa and not because his name starts with "rai". I loved Sho Kosugi movies growing up, it will be great to see him in a movie again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tigerstyles Posted May 31, 2008 Member Share Posted May 31, 2008 Looking Forward Too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Elhcay Posted May 31, 2008 Member Share Posted May 31, 2008 Wasn't Ngai Sing originally one of the cast? Kosugi replaced him? The link to the original article (or maybe you got it somewhere else): http://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Releases/'%3B'%3BNinja+Assassin'%3B'%3B+Starts+Production+in+Berlin/3699210.html BTW, unless it's something we write ourselves, we should always make it a point to mention the source and provide a link back to the original site/article as a form of respect to the author and copyrights. Sorry to say this, if you aren't giving proper credits, you're implying that you're the one who wrote all this, since it came from your post. Besides, don't we all have the tendency to ask, "Where did you hear this from?" As a site owner, it's upsetting and unsettling to see my site being plagiarised by another site (sad to say, it's a reputable magazine publisher with association to a big star) - that is, site content being reproduced elsewhere without any mention/link back to my site - and worst of all, regularly for the past few months. Hence, I hope in this community, we should always try to include a link to the original article whenever we post something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted July 2, 2008 Member Share Posted July 2, 2008 By Mark Pollard • June 30, 2008 An official plot, the casting addition of veteran ninja movie star Sho Kosugi and several leaks from the Wachowski Brothers’ latest film, NINJA ASSASSIN have appeared online throughout June and so far nothing suggests this film will rise to escape the fate that met SPEED RACER, the Wachowski’s spin on a classic anime series that was widely panned by critics and quickly ran out of gas at the box office. Leaks include production pics (originally posted and then removed from Slash Film), a German newsprint photo of a Volkswagen’s hood decimated by shuriken and a complete spoilerific breakdown of the film’s first scene. There is also word from Comic Book Resources in an interview with screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski that the film’s entire shooting script was rewritten from scratch in three days and only six weeks before production began. Here’s the official plot released by Warner Bros. NINJA ASSASSIN follows Raizo (Rain), one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them… and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge. In Berlin, Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) has stumbled upon a money trail linking several political murders to an underground network of untraceable assassins from the Far East. Defying the orders of her superior, Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles), Mika digs into top secret agency files to learn the truth behind the murders. Her investigation makes her a target, and the Ozunu Clan sends a team of killers, led by the lethal Takeshi (Rick Yune), to silence her forever. Raizo saves Mika from her attackers, but he knows that the Clan will not rest until they are both eliminated. Now, entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse through the streets of Europe, Raizo and Mika must trust one another if they hope to survive…and finally bring down the elusive Ozunu Clan. This plot reads like a cross between THE BOURNE IDENTITY and CRYING FREEMAN. It could work adequately as a genre film although nothing suggests anything new or cleverly retooled. Casting Rain, a Korean pop star with no substantial background in martial arts, stunt acting or dramatic acting as a Japanese ninja and “one of the deadliest assassins in the world” is a big stretch that is only widened by an image of Rain spending precious training time bulking and toning up for the role with help from the same trainers who were responsible the beefcake bods in 300. Apparently, being a top assassin in today’s world requires the looks of a fashion model. In all fairness, a lot of today’s martial arts stars are buffed up and not afraid to show it including Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins and Collin Chou. I’ll shut up after I’ve seen Rain do something more impressive than what he displayed in SPEED RACER. If nothing else, the Wachowskis should be able to exploit Rain’s new looks in Korea where he already has a large swooning fanbase. There may not be much hope for similar marketing strategies here in the U.S. where some knucklehead at People magazine mistook Karl Yune for Rain in a recent issue. At least they got the nationality right which is more than I can say for the title character of NINJA ASSASSIN. In comments posted around the web, some folks seem to think that the addition of Sho Kosugi as a secret ninja clan leader gives NINJA ASSASSIN more legitimacy as a martial arts movie. Love of all things ninja-related aside, has anyone actually watched one of Kosugi’s movies as an adult in the last few years? Sho may have seemed positively badass to the average ten-year-old in the early 1980s when films like REVENGE OF THE NINJA were being released. Yet watch a movie like RAGE OF HONOR today and it’s hard to imagine, even by genre standards. But still, full respect goes to Sho for being a real Japanese martial artist and pioneer in American martial arts moviemaking. There wouldn’t be a resurgence of ninja movies today without him. Fighting action is choreographed by Jon Valera, an experienced Hollywood stuntman in mainstream flicks like LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD and with a background in multiple martial arts including freestyle karate and Aikido. He hasn’t had a chance to prove himself as a fight choreographer yet. That will change soon with the additional upcoming release of THE TOURNAMENT starring Kelly Hu, Ving Rhames and Robert Carlyle. What is going to be a challenge for the filmmakers is how to sell NINJA ASSASSIN beyond throwing lots of money around. The story lacks any hook. Initial pics released reveal no distinct visual style that usually accompanies a Wachowski movie. Warner Bros. may have felt the same way considering they requested their removal. On the flip side, this could mean that they are not truly representative of the movie at large. Rain is unknown outside of Asia aside from a throwaway supporting role in SPEED RACER and so far has zero credibility with martial arts movie fans. Director James McTeigue’s initial entry V FOR VENDETTA was decent but its success relied heavily on unusually strong source material from a graphic novel series by writer Alan Moore and illustrator David Lloyd. On top of all of this, the movie is likely to have an R-rating which always narrows audience turnout. Even so, SPEED RACER’s PG rating didn’t help that movie at all. With the Wachowski’s misfires on their MATRIX sequels as indication that they have gradually lost whatever directing magic led to THE MATRIX, it’s up to McTeigue to make NINJA ASSASSIN into something better than another Wachowski movie, which as of 2008 isn’t the selling point that it used to be. My Thoughts: OK from what is sounds like this movie is really going to be disappointing, I've been hoping for some new Ninja movies but if they are starting out with bad press that that really sucks, hopefully we won't be disappointed when the movie is finally released. And the fact that Sho Kosugi will be starring in it should really make this movie something to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member bamboo spear Posted July 4, 2008 Member Share Posted July 4, 2008 Is it really so hard to find a Japanese actor these days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Li Ho Posted July 27, 2008 Member Share Posted July 27, 2008 yeah bamboo spear.what about kane kosugi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member bamboo spear Posted July 27, 2008 Member Share Posted July 27, 2008 Am I supposed to be impressed? I love Sho Kosugi and son, but nothing legitimizes a ninja film like Sonny Chiba. They should have looked him up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member CrazyFrog Posted December 15, 2008 Member Share Posted December 15, 2008 Here's an update- stunt reel featuring Rain in Ninja Assassin. http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/rain-in-the-stunt-reel-for-ninja-assassin/#comments Have to say his swordwork looks real good. Don't really care that he's buff but his training looks intense, not to mention that the team of stunt actors also looks top notch. Might be better than I initially thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alex Posted December 16, 2008 Member Share Posted December 16, 2008 i was hoping the wachowski's were actually directing this, as is my expectations are severly lowered i really hope this wont be a waste of sho kosugi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member blue_skies Posted December 16, 2008 Member Share Posted December 16, 2008 the wachowski's are highly overrated,. I couldn't agree more The ninja subgenre needs a good film, I hope they do not fail. I really can't see it being anything but a failure if it's not a full-blooded action movie, without compromise. It will almost probably turn out to be a PG 13 in any case to maximise box-office revenue negating any chance of being a decent movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member enteeq Posted December 16, 2008 Member Share Posted December 16, 2008 the 87eleven ppl seem to be doing a good job judging from those clips... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alex Posted December 17, 2008 Member Share Posted December 17, 2008 i don't really want to get into a protracted argument, but I will just say that Bound, the first Matrix and Speed Racer are all products of extremely gifted film makers with a knack of re-imagining existing themes and techniques and incorporating them into their own work in a forward thinking manner. which is something the ninja genre could use. feel free to disagree up and down with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daTOAD Posted December 17, 2008 Member Share Posted December 17, 2008 Are the Wachowski's still doing Ninja Scroll ,or did that turn into this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member blue_skies Posted December 17, 2008 Member Share Posted December 17, 2008 i don't really want to get into a protracted argument, but I will just say that Bound, the first Matrix and Speed Racer are all products of extremely gifted film makers with a knack of re-imagining existing themes and techniques and incorporating them into their own work in a forward thinking manner. which is something the ninja genre could use. feel free to disagree up and down with this. BUT they aren't directing only producing so not sure how much creative influence they'll have, not that I rate them anyway. Even with creative control they p@$$£d away the Matrix franchise I suspect they only had a couple of good movies in them. anyway as I said going mainstream is unlikely to make a good ninja movie, it needs to be smaller(cheaper) so they can up the violence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alex Posted December 18, 2008 Member Share Posted December 18, 2008 BUT they aren't directing only producing so not sure how much creative influence they'll have, not that I rate them anyway. Even with creative control they p@$$£d away the Matrix franchise I suspect they only had a couple of good movies in them. anyway as I said going mainstream is unlikely to make a good ninja movie, it needs to be smaller(cheaper) so they can up the violence. my expectations are actually diminished because they're not directing it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member smullen Posted December 22, 2008 Member Share Posted December 22, 2008 Looking forward to this movie, not making a judgement yet as you can never tell whats going to happen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted December 23, 2008 Author Member Share Posted December 23, 2008 To clarify: The Wachowskis are only producing but they have the same director as V For Vendetta, James McTeigue. However, J. Michael Straczynski is a very well adept comic writer so it will be interesting to see how he tackles the Ninja genre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member blue_skies Posted December 23, 2008 Member Share Posted December 23, 2008 However, J. Michael Straczynski is a very well adept comic writer so it will be interesting to see how he tackles the Ninja genre. yeah & his writing on Babylon 5 was nothing less than amazing (the series as a whole!) ...Also loved his TV series Jeremiah. You just made the film much more appealing to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member emacs Posted December 27, 2008 Member Share Posted December 27, 2008 i think this film is / was scheduled to be released theatrically next month in Canada and the US. usually there are low box-office expectations for films released in January. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Karlos Posted July 23, 2009 Moderator Share Posted July 23, 2009 Hi all Apologies if you already know this, but the first trailer for this is now all over the net - as is the poster. Check 'em out!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted July 23, 2009 Member Share Posted July 23, 2009 The Trailer for this Movie looks INSANE! I just hope that it doesn't disappoint on all levels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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