Netflix Developing BLACK SAMURAI Movie Based on the Blaxploitation Book Series

Netflix is developing a new film titled Black Samurai, which will be based on the blaxploitation book series by Marc Olden. The streaming service is hoping that this will be their next big action film franchise.

There’s no director, writer, or actors attached, but the film will be produced by John Schoenfelder and Russell Ackerman, who previously produced the 2021 supernatural horror movie Séance. Also producing is Jeremy Saulnier, who worked on the gritty thriller Hold the Dark.

The book series told the story of Robert Sand, “an American soldier in Japan who learns the ways of the most powerful martial arts and becomes The Black Samurai. The first novel saw him embarking on a mission of vengeance. The other tomes were globe-trotting thrillers that featured power-mad millionaires, black-market warheads, pimps, voodoo priests and a solid gold katana, plus a not-infrequent level of casualties.”

The hero was previously adapted in the 70s during the height of Hollywood’s blaxploitation genre and was played by Jim Kelly, who appeared opposite Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon and went on to star in movies such as Three the Hard Way.

That sounds like a ton of fun! There’s a lot of potential for this to be a successful film franchise for Netflix. It’ll be interesting to see who Netflix hires to develop it because its success depends on the talent they hire.

Source: THR