Back in the ’70s, when Big Daddy and Hit-Girl were still a gleam in Mark Millar’s eye, there was only one name in comic-book parent-child mayhem, and that was Lone Wolf And Cub. Writer Kazuo Koike’s 28-part manga series went on to inspire a six-part movie series in its native Japan, the first two films in which were combined and redubbed for American audiences as Shogun Assassin, which in turn was sampled heavily on GZA’s Liquid Swords album. You may recall this intro:
The original Lone Wolf And Cub films are masterpieces of stylized ultra-violence, chronicling the adventures of imposing, jowly sword-for-hire Ogami Itto (Tomisaburo Wakayama) and his young son Daigoro (Tomikawa Akihiro) as they wander the countryside of a mythical feudal Japan where ninjas are everywhere—seriously, they come out of the walls and ceilings sometimes—with a baby cart outfitted with spring-loaded knives:
It’s badass. And now Steven Paul, producer of that Ghost In The Shell remake starring Scarlett Johansson that pissed a bunch of people off, is looking to bring the father-son assassin team back to the big screen in an English-language remake. Paul has bought the rights to the property from a Japanese company, Koike Kazuo Gekiga Sonjuku, Inc., which made another Lone Wolf And Cub movie called Lone Wolf And Cub: Final Conflict in 1993.
Paul’s project will also be called Final Conflict, and while a director (Justin Lin was rumored to be attached to a remake back in 2012, but nothing came of it) and cast have yet to be chosen, Paul promises to be a little more culturally sensitive this time. As quoted in Variety, Paul says the film will have “an essentially Japanese cast,” and deals have been struck to shoot the film in China and Thailand, which are both close to Japan but not actually Japan. As our mothers always said, “essentially” only counts in horseshoes and the many rich and diverse cultural traditions of Asia. Wait, that’s not it…