Source: Variety
by Ethan Anderton
If you were upset about the Weinstein Company's forthcoming remake of the classic film Seven Samurai from legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, well, you may want to sit down for this. A company called Splendent Media has just picked up the remake rights to no less than 69 titles from the director. The properties include 26 of the films Kurosawa directed such as Rashomon, Yojimbo, Dreams, Kagemusha and plenty more. The deal also includes 24 films he wrote but did not direct, and 19 screenplays that never made it in front of a camera. Honestly, the latter portion of this news doesn't sound bad. More info below.
Variety notes that the deal does not include other Kurosawa projects already in development like the aforementioned Seven Samurai remake, and updates of High and Low, Drunken Angel and Ikiru. For the full list of films in the package, check out Splendentmedia.com. While I'm wholly opposed to remaking Kurosawa's classic films, like any filmmaker, not every film was an absolutely masterpiece. Obviously there's a chance that a remake of any films from Kurosawa's career could turn out to be pretty damn good.
However, I'm most interested in seeing those 19 unproduced screenplays come to life. It would be great if a big name director took on a script from Akira Kurosawa, and it sounds like there's definitely interest as Hideyoshi Kato, execution committee president of rights-holder Akira Kurosawa 100 Project, says, "In recent years, countless American and European filmmakers have expressed intense interest in remaking Kurosawa's films." Personally, I'd like to know which filmmakers are interested, and that might make me feel better about any forthcoming remakes.
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