South Korean Pop Star Rain Rumored for Awaken the Dragon

Geez, how long has it been since we heard about “Awaken the Dragon”, the pseudo “Enter the Dragon” remake of the Bruce Lee film? It was about two years ago, actually, when it was rumored that Tony Jaa would be making his English-language debut on the film. Well that apparently hasn’t panned out, and the movie has been in “development” (hell) ever since. Now there is a new rumor: will “Ninja Assassin” and Wachowski Brothers discovery Rain segue from killing guys with shurikens into kicking guys as a Shaolin monk? Possibly, possibly.

Rumors of Rain’s involvement comes from Latino Review, who has studio sources pegging Rain as the possible lead in former Shield TV show producer Kurt Sutter’s version of “Enter the Dragon”. If the rumor pans out, Rain would play a Shaolin monk who is being pursued by a lone FBI agent into a world of underground fighting. So basically Rain will be cast for his fighting ability, which if you’ve seen trailers for his “Ninja Assassin”, he apparently has an abundance off.

Truth be told, this always happens when someone is generating heat from an upcoming movie. That’s what happened with Tony Jaa two years ago, when “Tom Yum Goong” was coming out. Studio people see all this buzz about a particular actor and start wondering out loud “what if…” and the next thing you know, it’s on Latino Review or some other site. Not saying LR is wrong, mind you, they usually get stuff right, but you know, I wouldn’t take it too seriously, especially when there isn’t even any word that the movie will ever get made.

But if they were to choose Rain for the role, it would be a smart move. Rain may be a relative unknown in the States (although that should change somewhat when “Ninja Assassin” opens), he’s already an established major pop star in most of Asia. Basically, the box office for that region would be huge, as it surely will be for “Ninja Assassin”. Maybe the suits are waiting to see that before they commit…

Nice moves, kid, but what's that poking out of your ear? Is that some kind of growth or something?