An English-language remake of Takashi Miike’s Japanese spy thriller “Shield of Straw” is in development, three years after the film was a finalist for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Luc Besson‘s EuropaCorp is teaming with All Nippon Entertainment Works, Japanese partner Nippon Television, and Chris and Paul Weitz‘s production company, Depth of Field, to develop, finance, and produce the remake.
The producer of the original work, Nippon TV’s Naoaki Kitazima, will produce the film with Depth of Field’s Chris Weitz, Andrew Miano, and Dan Balgoyen, alongside ANEW’s CEO Sandy Climan and EuropaCorp.
Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt (“Olympus Has Fallen,” “London Has Fallen”) are writing the script. The original story centered on a team of five police officers charged with protecting an accused killer who has been marked for death by the billionaire grandfather of his latest victim.
The movie, based on Kazuhiro Kiuchi’s novel “Wara no Tate,” was a major box office success in Japan.
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“We are thrilled at the prospect of bringing the remake of the Japanese thriller ‘Shield of Straw’ to American audiences and the worldwide market,” said EuropaCorp President Lisa Ellzey. “This film is right on brand for EuropaCorp, and we look forward to working with the filmmakers on this project.”
ANEW said “Shield of Straw” reinforces its mandate to build a cultural bridge between the leading creative companies in Japan and prominent Hollywood filmmakers, while bringing Japanese intellectual property to audiences internationally.
Current ANEW projects include “Tiger & Bunny,” adapted by writer Ellen Shanman and produced with Imagine Entertainment; “6000,” produced in association with Mike Medavoy; “Soul Reviver,” produced in association with Fields Corp., and Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz of Bedford Falls Prods.; and a live-action remake of TOEI Animation’s robot anime “Gaiking” with producer Gale Anne Hurd’s Valhalla Entertainment.
Besson is currently in post-production on the sci-fi epic “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,” starring Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne; and John Madden’s “Miss Sloane,” starring Jessica Chastain, which will be released on Dec. 9.
Depth of Field credits include “About a Boy,” “In Good Company,” “The Golden Compass,” “Grandma,” and “Mozart in the Jungle.” Depth of Field recently wrapped production on “A Happening of Monumental Proportions,” Judy Greer’s directorial debut.
