All Nippon Entertainment Works and Japanese partner Nippon TV are teaming with Chris and Paul Weitz’s Depth of Field to develop and produce an English-language remake of Takashi Miike’s action thriller Shield Of Straw, which played in competition at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen husband-and-wife scribes Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt have been tapped to adapt the screenplay. No director has been set.
The original Japanese pic, Wara No Tate, centers 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 producer of the original film, Nippon TV’s Naoaki Kitajima, will produce the remake alongside Depth of Field’s Chris Weitz, Andrew Miano and Dan Balgoyen.
This is ANEW and Depth of Field’s third project in development, joining the horror pic Ghost Train and thriller Birthright. Depth of Field is behind the Lily Tomlin-toplined Grandma, which opened last week at the specialty box office.
“Takashi Miike’s original film was taut, action-packed and the kind of story that grabs the audience’s attention right from the start and those assets, combined with the Rothenbergers’ writing talents and Depth of Field’s track record, provide all the elements necessary to make this a blockbuster endeavor for all involved,” ANEW’ SVP Production Annmarie Bailey said. “This significantly builds on our relationship with Depth of Field and we’re confident it will appeal to a mass audience that clamors for action adventure and thrillers.”
Added Chris Weitz: “What struck us most about the original film was how at the core of this action thriller, there was an intense morality tale. It’s one that analyzed the gray area between the law and justice, as well as what rights a presumed murderer should truly have. There are no easy answers. We want audiences to leave the theatre discussing what they would have done in a similar situation.”
ANEW also has in the works 6000 with producer Mike Medavoy, Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz’s Soul ReViver, and a live-action remake of the robot anime Gaiking with The Walking Dead producer Gale Anne Hurd.