It’s happened to every other Japanese movie, so why wouldn’t it happen with this one? Variety is reporting today that
BATTLE ROYALE, the classic Japanese flick about a group of students who battle each other to the death, is being developed as a remake by New Line Cinema for American audiences.
BATTLE ROYALE is definitely one of my favorite movies, as you don’t see kids in High School (or were they Junior High?) killing each other for the ultimate prize everyday around here. F*cking classic.
New Line has set up the project with Neal Moritz and Roy Lee, who are also behind this summer’s THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT, THE LAKE HOUSE and this falls THE GRUDGE 2.
While I think this could have potential to kick a lot of ass, it’s hard for me to believe that a full blown Hollywood movie is going to feature teenagers killing each other as a game of survival of the fittest. Sure, it takes shite like ‘Survivor’ to a whole new level, but is the majority of American audiences ready for that?
Really, I’m afraid that they’ll water it down and make it weaksauce- something like this needs to be as hardcore as possible to be effective.
Let us know what you think by spitting bullets below. Stick around for more info. on the remake of BATTLE ROYALE as we hear it!