Ninja Assassin - Possible Spoilers

[vakie]

Seems like JMS announced this as one of his projects at WonderCon, but somehow I've missed it. At imdb he's listed as writing the script with someone called Matthew Sand. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186367/

Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta, first AD for the Matrix films and Star Wars: Episode II).

Produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers.

There were rumours that it was an adaptation of the Ninja Scrolls anime, but according to Joel Silver it’s a completely original story. ("full on martial arts movie", "a revenge movie")

http://www.collider.com/entertainmen...id/7294/tcid/1

http://www.collider.com/entertainmen...id=7641&tcid=1

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index...ory=3&id=50471

Someone on the imdb boards claimed it's about the true story of Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi (1607-1650), who also inspired the Ninja Scrolls.
Apparently it starts shooting in 3 weeks, and it will be done in Berlin, same as Speed Racer.

[Jan]

Seems like JMS announced this as one of his projects at WonderCon, but somehow I've missed it. At imdb he's listed as writing the script with someone called Matthew Sand.

No, this is new. He didn't mention it at WonderCon at all.

Jan

[vakie]

I don't remember any mention of it either, but this guy says he did..

[vakie]

Well, he seems to have confirmed it in his latest post:

..was hired to rewrite/basically write a new
script for a project for the Wachowskis..

Though some sources claim the script is by the Wachowskis like they did with McTeigue in V for Vendetta, it's maybe a case of "story by the Wachowskis, 1st draft script by Matthew Sand, 2nd draft by jms". Although by the sound of jms' comment, it was more than a script polish and he basically rewrote the whole thing.

So now he's got a period drama, a martial arts film, a superhero movie, a Vietnam War movie, a Zombie movie coming up.. what next? Comedy?

[Jan]

So now he's got a period drama, a martial arts film, a superhero movie, a Vietnam War movie, a Zombie movie coming up.. what next? Comedy?

Well, it doesn't seem to be mentioned but he did say a while back that he'd written the movie about King David so you've got either biblical or historic. Comedy would be good. I generally like what he does with that.

Jan

[vakie]

Wachowski Brothers getting underway on 'Ninja Assassin'

Apr 28, 2008, 03:06 PM | by Nicole Sperling

With their Speed Racer movie ready to release on May 9, the Wachowski Brothers have already turned their sights to their next project, Ninja Assassin, starring Korean star Rain. The English-language ninja film, set to begin production today in Berlin, will be produced by the brothers and directed by Wachowski protege James McTeigue (V for Vendetta). "The ninja scenes in Speed Racer gave us the idea to do Ninja Assassin," producer Joel Silver said at the Speed Racer premiere. "I've wanted the brothers to do a full-on martial arts film for a while now, but nothing ever came up. Then we were watching the first dailies of the fight scenes in Speed Racer and they looked at Rain in a whole new way. He's unbelievable as a fighter."

Silver would spill few details on the plot of the film, but we could glean that Ninja Assassin is a revenge-type story and Rain plays opposite Naomie Harris, best known as Tia Dalma in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. "She plays the girl, the beautiful girl who also kicks some butt," Silver said.

Rain, also at the Speed premiere, was equally mum on the details. "They keep telling me that it is very secret and not to say anything about it. I play a ninja and I'm going to fight a lot is all I can tell."

No mention of writer.. but there's no mention of any other project they might be working on either.

Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg says:

Naomie Harris („Fluch der Karibik“) und der koreanische Sänger, Schauspieler und Superstar Rain alias Jung Ji-Hoon („Speed Racer“) drehen nach dem Buch der Wachowski Brüder in Babelsberg den Actionthriller „Ninja Assassin“ (Regie: James McTeigue) über einen abtrünnigen Ninja, der von seinem Clan bis nach Berlin verfolgt wird. (about a renegade ninja, who is followed by his clan to Berlin)

[mandragora]

Ninja Assassin (2009)
Cast and Crew
Director
James McTeigue

Producer
Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski, Joel Silver

Screenwriter
Matthew Sand, J. Michael Straczynski

http://www.aceshowbiz.com/movie/ninja_assassin/

Ninja Assassin (Action)
USA 2009

Regie:
James McTeigue
Drehbuch:
J. Michael Straczynski
Matthew Sand
Schauspieler:
Naomie Harris
Rain
Collin Chou

http://www.filmstarts.de/produkt/97546,Ninja%20Assassin.html

Shooting started in Berlin yesterday.

[SmileOfTheShadow]

Well cool...such a blunt title though.

[mandragora]

Businesswire now has some more information on this one, including a brief outline of the plot (spoiler alert!)

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080529006395&newsLang=en

[vakie]

More details are out.

IESB has a breakdown of the opening sequence of the film
with more details to come, and /Film has 5 photos.

[mandragora]

Firstshowing has a report on the SDCC Ninja Assassin panel last Thursday:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/07/26/comic-con-08-first-look-at-james-mcteigues-ninja-assassin/

And I've found an interview with the cast, with a bit of information on the script (minor spoilers):

http://www.latinoreview.com/news/comic-con-interview-the-cast-on-ninja-assassin-5073

Looks like this one is not for the faint of the heart.

[Belbo]

Achtung!

twitchfilm.net has a brief behind-the-scenes clip from German TV

Ninja Assassin in Berlin

Looks, er, "dynamic"!

[mandragora]

Comingsoon.net has an interview with director James McTeigue:

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=47528

[vakie]

JMS is having a chat with a clueless person on IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186367/...flat/106131510

This could go on for days..

Re: Do you think The Wachowski Brothers did a rewrite for this?
by straczynski (Sun Sep 21 2008 21:51:32)
UPDATED Sun Sep 21 2008 21:52:18

No they didn't.

They went to J. Michael Straczynski to rewrite it.

http://comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16965

Who wrote the original? I guess Matthew Sand did.


-- Guess again, Einstein. The Wachowskis wrote the original script, then had Straczynski do a re-write just before principal photography began.


You really need to be careful when you start insulting people and calling them Einstein and assuming you have inside information when you don't.

Matt Sand wrote the original script.

I was called in to do the rewrite.

The Wachowskis had not written a draft of the script prior to Matt's script.

--

Are you absolutely, one hundred percent certain about that?

It seems the lads have you operating on a "need to know" basis...


Sorry...I am precisely certain.

First, they were too busy on Speed Racer to tackle another script.

Second, they made this very clear when we spoke, then and prior to the assignment, because we've been friends for something like four years.

Third, all drafts must be turned over to the WGA for purposes of arbitration, and there was no draft.

So once again: you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

You weren't there.

You're just making stuff up to look important.

[Jan]

Oh, my...now there's a thankless task!

Jan