John Wick director Chad Stahelski says he’s excited to shoot his movie adaptation of the beloved video game Ghost of Tsushima.
The filmmaker sat down with Collider to speak about the upcoming film, which will be shot entirely in Japanese.
Despite the barrier of subtitles, Stahelski believes the film will still resonate with American audiences.
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He said: “A complete Japanese cast, in Japanese. Sony is so on board with backing us on that.
"I've been going to Japan since I was 16. I have a love of the country, love of the people, love of the language.
“To try to direct not only in my language, but someone else's and culturally shift my mindset to bring apart that in a cool way that still entices a Western audience.”
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He added he is ‘super excited’ to commence shooting.
Stahelski also shared how it will be challenging to find a studio to back the project; however, he believes the payoff will be well worth it.
He said: “No one is going to give me USD $200 million (AUD $295 m) to do a technology-push movie without speaking English.
“I get it. So, I have to be clever, and I have to figure out what's fiduciarly responsible to the property, to the studio and still get what I want out of it and still make it something epic.”
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But Chad also believes the recent success of The Last of Us will be crucial in getting bums on seats for the film.
"Ghost...it’s got an amazing story. It’s the anti-samurai samurai movie. It’s got great thematics," he said.
"We have a lot of push on that and a lot of interest because Last of Us pushing that, yes, the curse of video game-to-movie is kind of lifted. It can be done. You’ve just got to give it love and attention. And Ghost, of probably all the other video game [movies] in development, I think that’s the one that’s going to land.”
Ghost of Tsushima is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
The story follows Jin Sakai, a samurai on a quest to protect Tsushima Island during the first Mongol invasion of Japan.
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During the battle, Jin must choose between following the warrior code to fight honorably, or using practical but dishonorable methods of repelling the Mongols with minimal casualties.
The game was a huge commercial success and sold more than 9.73 million copies by July 2022, making it one of Sony's fastest-selling original games.
Additionally, It was nominated for several awards, including Game of the Year at The Game Awards in 2020.
Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions announced they would develop the film adaptation of the game.
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The epic flick will also be produced by Stahelski, Alex Young, and Jason Spitz of 87Eleven Entertainment alongside Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan of PlayStation Productions.
No word yet on its release date.
Topics: News, Film and TV, PlayStation, PlayStation 5