Anime & Manga News

Live Action Feature Film of Afro Samurai Announced

by Naruleach
Jul 22, 2011 1:15 AM | 39 Comments
According to their press release, FUNimation, Gonzo Studios, and Indomina Group, a U.S. and Dominican Republic based producer and distributor, have announced a live action feature film of Afro Samurai.

Samuel L. Jackson, who voiced the lead character the anime, is going to star in the live action film and has been hired as one of the producers.

According to Variety, the producers hope to hire a writer and director this summer and complete casting by the end of the year. The film will be shot at Pinewood Indomina Studios in the Dominican Republic next year.

Afro Samurai Live Action Film website: http://www.afrosamuraithemovie.com

Sources: The Indomina Group Press Release, Funi, Variety, ICv2

20 of 39 Comments Recent Comments

I'll go watch Afro Samurai then..

Jul 25, 2011 5:21 PM by Yorozuya-GIN

Yes Love the Anime Love Samuel L Jackson great news.

Jul 23, 2011 7:20 PM by Blitzbolt

I'm not surprised and I haven't seen the anime version but I'm not interested.

Jul 23, 2011 5:01 PM by animelly

Actually I'm not surprised they're doing this, I might watch it.

Jul 23, 2011 4:31 PM by Mon_Diamond

Tenchi_Ryu said:

Too quirky?!

Do yourself a favor and watch Jungle Fever......

There is no way SLJ is afro, and there is no need. Afro barely spoke the entire series, all we need is a toned black actor with a afro that mumbles. The fact the SLJ will be in it makes it obvious he's playing ninja ninja. Thats the main speaking role, and the role SLJ put all his energy into.

SLJ is slim enough, the face is older like ninja ninja, just add in a gray afro and SLJ is set. The only thing he can't do is the hanging in the trees part, otherwise, the following and pestering Afro part is easy.

Afro is lanky, but fit and has muscles, but at the same time not buff.

So a good actor for Afro would be Andre 3000 or Wood Harris.

I beg to differ on Andre 3000. Physically he's a bit too slim for the role, though he could be considered as Ninja Ninja or some other character.
And even though Samuel L. Jackson said, and I quote, "You know, when I look at him, I see Andre 3000. So, maybe so.", I beg to differ. He just doesn't give off that badass vibe. He's not a bad actor, but this role somehow doesn't fit him. It would be like Leonardo DiCaprio playing Blade instead of Wesley Snipes. Or putting jello on a steak.

Jul 23, 2011 1:05 PM by and2one

unless they give afro any semblance of a personality and more than 5 lines of dialogue, no thanks.

Jul 23, 2011 9:19 AM by Lordcrab86

I can't even fathom a scenario where this doesn't get money out of me. I hope they don't try and cut it down to a more family friendly rating though. Wouldn't be quite the same without the smokes, blood and sex. Those handrolled tokes Afro smoked were classy as all fuck. We need to keep them.

Kundalini said:
SLJ is too old! Too old!!

Afro wasn't exactly a young man. I would have placed him in his forties. Samuel Jackson would be fine. More a question of whether or not he'd be up to the work involved in the choreography or not. I can't recall him doing anything quite as extensive as what this role would require in recent history, so it might still be out of the question.

Kundalini said:
Imgine Will Smith playing Afro.. O.o

While still respecting your opinion I must say that is a terrible terrible choice for the role. I'm a huge fan of Will Smith but he just does not have what's needed for a quiet badass or a grizzled veteran like Afro. Will Smith does the young cocksure thing fantastically, but just even the look in his eyes in every role he does is the look of someone who thinks he owns this place and is proud of it. Youthful pride like he's got something to prove. The exception is when he does his whole deep soulful "I've been hurt" routine, which still comes across as a young man's angst rather than an older man's regret and beat-downedness. Neither of which would be needed for this role. We'd just have to get rid of that general youthful energy he carries.

Not only that, but he's completely unproven in the field of melee martial choreography. He's badass with a gun, and he can look good in close combat for a scene or two, but we've seen nothing to indicate he could carry a movie with his cinematic swordsmanship.

Oddly enough I bet he could do Ninja Ninja like nobody's business. He does wisecrack well when the role calls for it.

I'd say that either Wesley Snipes or Denzel Washington would be perfect for Afro. I'd probably go with Wesley because of his work in the Blade Trilogy.

That being said, judging by the company backing it this probably isn't gonna have a whole lot of star power beyond Samuel L. We're talking about dollars I'm pretty sure they don't have.

Jul 23, 2011 9:08 AM by Gangler

Kundalini said:
SLJ is too old! Too old!!
But I CAN imagine him as Afro.. and NOT Ninja Ninja.. The latter is too quirky to be played by SLJ. O.o

I'll wait for the movie to air on TV.. HA HA HA.
and MAAAAAAAybe I'll watch it.


Too quirky?!

Do yourself a favor and watch Jungle Fever......

There is no way SLJ is afro, and there is no need. Afro barely spoke the entire series, all we need is a toned black actor with a afro that mumbles. The fact the SLJ will be in it makes it obvious he's playing ninja ninja. Thats the main speaking role, and the role SLJ put all his energy into.

SLJ is slim enough, the face is older like ninja ninja, just add in a gray afro and SLJ is set. The only thing he can't do is the hanging in the trees part, otherwise, the following and pestering Afro part is easy.

Afro is lanky, but fit and has muscles, but at the same time not buff.

So a good actor for Afro would be Andre 3000 or Wood Harris.

Jul 23, 2011 8:14 AM by Tenchi_Ryu

Imgine Will Smith playing Afro.. O.o

Jul 23, 2011 12:40 AM by Kundalini

SLJ is too old! Too old!!
But I CAN imagine him as Afro.. and NOT Ninja Ninja.. The latter is too quirky to be played by SLJ. O.o

I'll wait for the movie to air on TV.. HA HA HA.
and MAAAAAAAybe I'll watch it.

Jul 23, 2011 12:39 AM by Kundalini

Just got my hands on the two first volumes of the Manga and after this I'm going to read and watch the anime like a motherfucker.

Jul 22, 2011 7:25 PM by MigMaster

and2one said:
Samuel L. Jackson is 62. No way he's gonna play Afro that's for sure. I could see him as Ninja Ninja or Afro's father though. This is gonna be interesting.


I think he well most likely play the role of the father.
It only makes sense considering his age.

Jul 22, 2011 4:25 PM by SpykeRoseRed

I'll watch it as long as SLJ is just a supporting cast member. Like someone else said, he's too old for the role.

Jul 22, 2011 2:57 PM by soulless4now

Samuel L. Jackson is 62. No way he's gonna play Afro that's for sure. I could see him as Ninja Ninja or Afro's father though. This is gonna be interesting.

Jul 22, 2011 1:35 PM by and2one

Nice to know this is finally going ahead. Me and my friends were able to talk to some official Afro Samurai staff back in 2008 at an anime expo we have here in the UK and we asked them about the movie. They gave us some minor info and said that Samuel L. Jackson wanted to produce, but no word had been given on acting. I hope he is in it, though.

Jul 22, 2011 12:51 PM by Touka

i never watched afro samurai before but SJ is not a bad actor so maybe ....

Jul 22, 2011 11:15 AM by Mr_Gutts

Haha, this is gonna be a blast.

Jul 22, 2011 10:47 AM by cyruz

Hope this is good..........

Jul 22, 2011 9:27 AM by Dreadnaught_500

BOOOOOOO!!!!

I wish they kept it as an anime.. >.<

Jul 22, 2011 9:15 AM by ImNotLulexiaa

Samuel L. Jackson's pretty cool, so maybe this will be amusing. Dunno though, since I haven't seen the original anime.

Jul 22, 2011 7:09 AM by Gone__Forever__

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