It’s been close to five years since we last heard about the pending feature-length adaptation of Marc Olden’s Black Samurai novels – previously in series form. News as of Thursday now has the project in new hands, with Netflix announcing its own feature-length development of the IP.
John Wick franchise helmer Chad Stahelski will direct from a script by Netflix series Raising Dion co-exec producer, Leigh Dana Jackson. Based on the 1974-75 novels, Black Samurai will introduce Robert Sand, an American soldier in Japan who learns the ways of the most powerful martial arts, and becomes The Black Samurai, embarking on a mission to stop dangerous forces who threaten everything he holds dear.
Stahelski will produce along with Jason Spitz, and Alex Young for 87Eleven Entertainment, as will John Schoenfelder and Russell Ackerman for Addictive Pictures. Exec producing are Diane Crafford and Liza Fleissig, and Cinemation Studio’s Andre Gaines.
Jackson serves as an exec producer on sci-fi series Foundation, which is currently available on Apple TV+. Stahelski, whose name is already connected to a number of projects including and not limited to an adaptation hit video game Ghost Of Tsushima, a novel adaptation of Shibumi, and a reimagining of Highlander, is in post-production with the fourth installment of the John Wick saga dated for March 24, 2023 from Lionsgate.