Several samurai

The Weinstein Company announced a couple months ago that they're sinking about $285 million dollars into Asian film projects. A good-sized chunk (looks like about $70 million plus post-production and advertising) is going to The Forbidden Kingdom, the first teaming of Jackie Chan and Jet Li, which should come our way in April.

From the limited plot details available, it appears that The Forbidden Kingdom is about a young feller (Michael Angarano) who finds a mystical trinket in one of those pawn shops and thrift stores that always seem to regularly stock some fantastic antique ephemera (the ones in my part of town were stripped of their magical artifacts long ago by would-be eBay sellers). Long story short, it turns out he's involved in an ancient Eastern prophecy and can best fulfill it by tagging along with Chan, Li, and Liu Yifei on some general adventures.

By contrast, D-War, which I wrote about a few months ago, is about a young Occidental fellow who finds an enchanted something-or-other in Robert Forster's local antiquery. Turns out he's part of an ancient Eastern bloodline and dragon-based prophecy, and general adventures ensue.

Anyway, all general snarkiness aside, there is a remake-related part of the news. $285 million minus $70m-ish minus a couple other projects leaves a large chunk of change. It should be enough for a project we haven't heard much about in a year and a half, a project that fits in pretty well with $100 or $150 mil leftover spending money out of a large Asian-project investment.

Rumors made the rounds early in 2006 about the Weinsteins looking to remake Seven Samurai. Donnie Yen met with Harvey Weinstein at Cannes and they discussed a certain Kurosawa remake; the names Zhang Ziyi and George Clooney played heavily in the same context.

Soon after, John Fusco came on to write a script. Sounds mighty Magnificent Seven - Fusco's filmography reveals a particular bias for earthy flicks full of horses and/or Native Americans: Young Guns (1 and 2), Thunderheart, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and Hidalgo. Oh, and Forbidden Kingdom.