UK Indie Graphic Novel Style Actioner WE ARE SAMURAI Casts ‘Street Fighter’ Series Star Koieyama Akira
Exclusive: Mercs helmer Michael Morris is ready to seugue onward with his latest period thriller, We Are Samurai from Basement Act Productions. The project has been in active development in the last few months with a pre-production teaser promo for the film currently pending.
Story details are not being disclosed but the film is described as a graphic novel-style action movie in the vein of 300, as hinted at in the graphic below. Actor Koieyama Akira is the first listed to star in the film and no specifics have been given about the role apart from what is suggested in the above image, although the announcement also highlights the project as something that has never been done before.
Koieyama, who landed a co-starring antagonist role in the fourth and final season of Cinemax series, Strike Back and is due to appear in Chee Keong Cheung’s upcoming action horror, Redcon-1, is ingrained in various styles and aspects of armed and unarmed martial arts, including Karate in which he holds a 2nd-Dan black belt. The project will be his latest reuinion with the film’s designated fight choreographer, producer Joe Hallett since Joey Ansah’s 2014 live-action series success, Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist in which Koieyama co-starred and Hallett performed stunts.
Tony Banham who co-stars in actor and filmmaker Marcus Shakesheff’s bilateral debut in Kamikaze and in Ara Paiaya’s upcoming Instant Death is also producing with plans to roll cameras in the summer. Follow the We Are Samurai page on Facebook for further details and stay tuned for more info!