The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Bryan Cogman has landed an overall deal at Entertainment One (formerly at Amazon) and his first project will be a commentary series based on the iconic Akira Kurosawa masterpiece Yojimbo that starred legendary Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune.
The first project under the pact is a contemporary take on Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo.
YOJIMBO (1961) – A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master (Toshiro Mifune), enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon (Kamatari Fujiwara) and sake merchant Tokuemon (Takashi Shimura) to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.
The samurai film, like Seven Samurai, influenced multiple versions in the west most famously the Sergio Leone western A Fistful of Dollars (1964) that starred Clint Eastwood and there was also a lesser known gangster remake from Walter Hill with Last Man Standing (1996) starring Bruce Willis. It also has had some influence on more modern projects such as the Star Wars series The Mandalorian.
Cogman previously worked on HBO’s fantasy series Game of Thrones and the first season of Amazon’s expensive Lord of The Rings series. He also penned Disney’s live-action Stone In The Stone film.
FX is also attempting their own modern samurai series with a revival of Shogun based on the novel by James Clavell.
SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
THE RONIN 