So are yakuza flicks the hot new trend in Hollywood or are those Far East markets more important than ever? Probably a bit of both. Earlier this year, "Safe House" helmer signed up to direct the yakuza crime flick "The Outsider" at Warner Bros., and now a rival project of sorts is gearing up.
"Warrior" helmer Gavin O'Connor will get behind the camera for the clearly named "Yakuza" for the suits at Universal. Originally penned by Chap Taylor ("Changing Lanes"), with O'Connor and Josh Fagin ("Pride & Glory") to rewrite, the story centers on an American intelligence officer who gets caught up in the post-tsunami underworld of Japan, mixing it up with a yakuza godfather. So yeah, that's pretty vague, but it's all we got for now. O'Connor certainly is no stranger to men squaring off mentally, emotionally or physically and he's a pretty solid choice by producer Brian Grazer to direct the flick. Two yakuza movies by a couple of directors we really like? We're not going to argue with that.
We presume this is in early stages since a rewrite is needed so no word on where it fall in O'Connor's schedule, which also has the Peter Pan redo "Neverland," "Samurai" for Warner Bros. and a stage version of "The Hustler." [Deadline]