Ken Watanabe to Lead Japan

Japanese-language retelling in the works.

Warner Brothers Japan has announced plans for a Japanese-language remake of Clint Eastwood’s 1992 Oscar-winning western ‘Unforgiven.’

The Japanese-language feature will star an ensemble of Japan’s most acclaimed actors, led by Ken Watanabe (‘Letters from Iwo Jima,’ ‘The Last Samurai’) as Jubei Kamata, reinterpreting the role played by Clint Eastwood in the original, with Akira Emoto (‘Villain,’ ‘Dr. Akagi’) taking on the part played by Morgan Freeman, and Koichi Sato (‘Crest of Betrayal,’ ‘What the Snow Brings’) reprising Gene Hackman’s part.

Set on the island of Hokkaido following the collapse of the Edo shogunate, the film follows Jubei Kamata (Watanabe), a former swordsman of the shogunate who finds himself driven out of retirement by poverty to accept a final job as a bounty hunter.

Writer/director Lee Sang-il (‘Villain,’ ‘Hula Girls’) is attached for the retelling with filming set to commence in mid-September. The film is set for release autumn 2013 in Japan under the title ‘Yurusarezarumono’ (Japanese for ‘Unforgiven’).