Ryuhei Kitamura Announces American Remake of Versus
Asian Movie News, Horror Movie News, Versus (Remake 2009) Movie — By Nix on July 21, 2008
The last time I posted on the coming and going of Japanese action director Ryuhei Kitamura, it was to report that Lionsgate was burying his American debut, the horror “Midnight Meat Train”. (More on that here.) In the article, I mentioned how ho-hum the trailer looked, despite all the horror dudes going nuts over it. It just didn’t look like something Ryuhei Kitamura would do, was the problem I had with it. Well guess what? Ryuhei Kitamura is going to do something that will definitely qualify as “a Ryuhei Kitamura movie”. What’s that, you ask? Why, he’s going to do an American remake of his own 2000 Samurai-Zombie bash, “Versus”, of course!
Here’s Dread Central with the so-wonderful-try-not-to-wet-yourself news:
Kitamura just announced that he’s working on an American version of Versus. He just finished a draft of the script and will do one more to polish it up. It’s going to be a few years before it’s made, as he’s doing an action film first, but he stated, and I quote: “The US Versus will be insane!”
Oh my. Me so happy. Hee hee.
How totally and completely badass was Kitamura’s “Versus”? It was so bloody good I spent the next seven years watching every single thing Kitamura did, before becoming so disappointed with his output I gave up, and didn’t even realize he had directed an American movie until last month.
Here’s a quick rundown of the original “Versus” from IMDB.com:
Set in the present where a group of ruthless gangsters, an unknown woman and an escaped convict have met, unwittingly, in The Forest of Resurrection, the 444th portal to the other side. Their troubles start when those once killed and buried in the forest come back from the dead, with the assistance of the evil Sprit that has also come back, come back from ages past, to claim his prize. The final standoff between Light and Dark has never been so cunning, so brutal and so deadly. This is where old Japanese Samurai mysticism meets the new world of the gangster and the gun. Gruesome, bloody and positively bold.
Trust me, it’s all about the action. Loads and loads of insane martial arts, Samurai, and Yakuza action. With zombies. Did I mention the zombies? The film starred a then-unknown guy name Tak Sakaguchi, who according to Kitamura, he spotted fighting in the streets and instantly auditioned Sakaguchi for the leading role in his movie. True story.
Here’s a trailer for the original. Trust me, it’s like this for the entire two hours:
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9 Comments
And is this cast going to be Asian? Probably not. Why would he want to remake it anyway? Anyone else a bit pissed off? Not to the level those Dragonball Z fans are – who could be – but I’m pretty peeved. Is nothing sacred?
I don’t see how a remake would be as good or better than the original.
cool and i also like the new db movie hahaha!!!
meh. Kitamura was the same for me — loved Versus, and even kinda liked Alive and Azumi as flawed as they are. But he’s a one-trick pony a la our American friend George Lucas. Versus worked because Kitamura had to improvise and be creative; after that, money was less of an issue and he became very lazy and sloppy.
Nix has it right when it was posted that the world has kind of forgotten about Kitamura’s post-Versus work, because it sucks so hard. The problem with a Versus remake is that it will be made after Versus.
Are they still making a sequel to Versus? Cuz i thought they were
This is true, I am Ryuhei’s neice. I’m ten years old and I’m going to be in his next movie … I promise this is true and I can give you all the facts about him because I’ve been to Japan many times and he’s visited before so yeah. He used to direct in Australia
The film is not going to be a remake persay, but will rather parallel the story of the original film. To further explain, there are 666 portals connecting the human realm to the “other side.” The events of ‘Versus’ transpired in the “Forest of Resurrection,” the 444th portal. This new film will have a similar plot and take place during the same time period as the original, but will be set at one of the other portals, one located in America.
Ijust hope it doesn’t have the EXACT same story. I think something similar, maybe with a Native American slant to it would be awesome
Im Ryuheis father. Im also 10 years old. Nice to meet you all.
I have to admit im very very worried about Versus being made for the USA. The USA almost never has a positive influence on media (or anything else for that matter) and im scared the movie will be a piece of crap.
I kind of agree with those saying a remake shouldnt be made, but chances are Kitamura will cast the original members of Versus as extras, and you can be sure ill be watching it for them if nothing else. As much as the rest of the movie may pain me.