The ninja will return

I have to confess I was kind of a ninja nut in my youth, mail-ordering shuriken from Soldier of Fortune magazine and worshipping the likes of stealth/death master Sho Kosugi (and to a far lesser extent, Michael Dudikoff). But aside from brief appearances in movies like THE LAST SAMURAI and BATMAN BEGINS, the ninja hasn’t been seen on the big screen in a long while. Guess they’re just too sneaky.

Or maybe not! Universal is prepping a remake of the recent Japanese movie SHINOBI (not based on the classic videogames), with Max Makowski writing and directing. The original flick, set in Tokugawa era Japan, was more of a romance about members of opposing ninja clans who fall in love (with some exaggerated martial arts in between the forbidden yearning and lousy acting).

The remake will retain the Romeo and Juliet theme but shift the setting to modern Hong Kong, pitting organized gangsters against neo-ninja. As long as people are violently dismantled with exotic weaponry, I’ll be content.

A project called RETURN OF THE NINJA was announced several years ago from DIE HARD scribe Steven de Souza, but sadly has yet to emerge from the shadows.