August 5, 2009 | by Ross Miller 

‘Ninja Assassin’s’ Rain To ‘Awaken The Dragon?’

Rain as Raizo in Ninja Assassin

Latino Review has grabbed an exclusive scoop from a “confirmed source” that Ninja Assassin star and Korean pop star, Rain, is set to star in a remake of the 1973 Bruce Lee classic, Enter The Dragon. Screen Rant reported on this “sort of” remake almost two years ago, and much of the details remain the same:

Awaken The Dragon will be about a lone FBI agent who pursues a rogue Shaolin monk to get him to participate in the world of underground fight clubs. Warner Bros. is hoping for the FBI agent to be played by an already established American actor, and the monk to be played by a “fight star.” And Latino Review’s scoop says that fight star will be Rain.

The Shield writer/producer Kurt Sutter is writing the script for, and making his directorial debut with, Awaken the Dragon. The aim is to make the 21st century update of the Bruce Lee classic have a Noir feel. The story of the original was that of a martial artist who is drafted by a law enforcement agency to enter into a fighting tournament and take down a drug-smuggling operation run by the guy in charge of the tournament.

Here’s what Sutter had to say about his contemporized take on Enter the Dragon:

“I’m a huge noir fan, and this plot lends itself to the film I want to make… I wanted to set it in these underground fight clubs where the action is really raw and expose the brutality of Shaolin Kung fu. This will be more ‘Raging Bull’ than ‘Crouching Tiger’ in its viciousness.”

Rain is starring in the upcoming Ninja Assassin, an English-language action film from the director of V For Vendetta, James McTeigue and Matrix producers The Wachowski Bros. After starring in a few Korean films and TV shows (including Park Chan-wook’s charmingly peculiar I’m A Cyborg, But That’s Okay), Rain got his first English language role in Speed Racer. And, after seeing the trailer for Ninja Assassin, I can say Rain looks absolutely kick ass in martial arts role, eradicating any doubts people may have had about a pop star becoming a great action star.

Rain - Ninja Assassin

I know I’d certainly be up for Rain getting the lead role in Awaken the Dragon.

At the start of the year, fellow Screen Rant writer Rob Keyes posted a video showing the behind-the-scenes stuntwork of Ninja Assassin by the infamous 87Eleven stunt team. Rob pointed out something interesting: If Rain does indeed get the Awaken The Dragon gig (which it seems likely he will), and with the amount of movies 87Eleven have worked (300, Watchmen, Bourne trilogy, on and on), could we see the same stunt team work on Awaken The Dragon? I’d actually be surprised if WB didn’t already have them in mind for it.

I don’t usually like remakes because of one simple thing: most of them tend to lack much originality and are just trying to capitalize on the popularity/success of the original to make money. Having said that, if they can make Awaken The Dragon different enough that it doesn’t just come off as a rip-off, then I’m all for it.

Awaken The Dragon certainly sounds interesting – will it have more martial arts-style versions of the fight scenes from Fight Club, perhaps? 87Eleven did the stunts for that, too. Interesting…

Screen Rant will keep you up to date on whether or not this casting news turns out to be true.

Ninja Assassin to is set to be released on November 25th in the US, and on November 27th in the UK, both in 2009.

No word yet on when Awaken The Dragon is aiming to be in theaters.

Source: Latino Review

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Tags: awaken the dragon, ninja assassin,

  • a. stoke
    rain is good actor i think he will be a good canidate for the remake of enter the dragon
    he is a great ninja he is dedicated and he likes what he does he put his heart into it and he is for real i looked at his interview and the words he spoke about his life and the way he keeps his private life and about his music about stevie wonder and nat king
    cole it was very inspiring he is very humble and his words about people praying for him
    and he always have to pray also rain keep god first and byou will never go wrong i look
    at rain and think about my brother that was left behind after the war yes i have a
    brother that was left in korea that i have been searching for one day i will find him my
    daughter is a black belt first dan and a actor and model also god bless you rain in all
    your journey in life be blessed and always dont forget to pray i did see your movie and
    that of several times this remind me of king david who was a warrior in the bible read it
    sometime who used swords darts knives weavers beam when going out to battle
  • Rubyred
    I think it's wonderful and high time that the legendary Iconic BRUCE LEE: rest in peace/beautiful Actor & Master-Martial Art's man...'my goodness Mr. Bruce Lee was not only stunning & handsome but gifted-talented as hell!!! And it's high time that we paid much homage to "all" those amazing Martial Arts Movie-masterpieces he/Mr. BRUCE LEE put his Classic Signature on. I recently saw the Action movie "NINJA ASSASSIN" Starring Rain & Naomie Harris and it's absolutely spectacular visually & strong storyline, too and the Cast are action packed: the the Martial Art scenes remarkable & yes "lethal-brutle" and was very pleased to see that the action scenes carried the trademarks of hit movies like "300" (lessening the blood gore..'Ninja Assassin has lots of brutle "blood scenes" but not cringing blood-gory) and "Matrix" in which I found genuinely cleverly mastered...'so the viewer won't freak out to much. Excellent action film "NINJA ASSASSIN" and very much look forward in seeing this young Martial Artist & Actor RAIN (the moves he/and the Cast that fought did in this action movie is out of this World. Awesome...'breathtaking!!!) in the new Action film "AWAKEN THE DRAGON" for I already know it will be done in the ultmost "respects" toward the much "beloved" Icon/Martial Artist & Actor BRUCE LEE.
  • John "Kahless" Taylor
    @H
    A big fat DITTO to that! :-)
  • H
    You can imitate but never duplicate Bruce Lee.
  • cindy nova amalia
    ninja assassin kerenz abiz,action nya dapet bgt,,"RAIN LOVE YOU"
  • ogb
    Want more evidence this guy is not right for the role?

    Here's part of an interview he did:

    What favorite actors do you have that were in martial arts films?
    I love Jackie Chan and Bruce Li. They are my heroes but I'm so much faster, I'm so handsome – you know, it's my turn. [Laughs]


    Have you kept up with your work-out routine that you did for this film?
    When I finished Ninja Assassin I said, “No more chicken breasts! No more work-outs! No more vegetables! I'm going to eat junkfood – hamburgers, pizza, french fries.” You know, I got three hamburgers last night? I hate work-outs. How long was it to work out to get that physique? Eight months, eight hours a day. How do you balance your music and movies? Half and half. Sometimes people ask, “Which one do you like more: singing or acting?” This question is like asking, “Do you prefer your mother or your father?” I will concentrate on both. I love both singing and acting.



    What a freaking joke
  • merrett
    It seems like forever waiting for this movie. I can't wait to see it. I loved Rain in A Love to Kill. I hope he is as good like Jet Li as we need a new martial art actor - can never have enough!!!
    Rain could be the martial art fighter in Awaken the Dragon and Johnathan Rhys Meyers as the government agent. Would work for me.
  • Newton
    this is just the movie, cant wait, after this movie, there will be no more for this year....

    waitiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggg!!!!
  • november
  • I cant wait to this movie come out.
  • fishfist
    @ stuntmanJ & ogb: I couldn't agree more. There is NO way to approach this as a remake without it being a disaster. There was only one Bruce Lee, and the world just has to get by without him. Because he was the best at what he did, there will never be anyone who can replace him... especially in that role. If they want to remake something, why not try to remake Game of Death. Bruce only appeared in something like 8 minutes and the rest was a body double wearing a horrible fake beard or a motorcycle helmet.
  • stuntmanJ
    they should not promote this as a remake. they should Just make the best action movie they can and avoid any comparisons that could handicap it before it's ever released.
  • The real Joe
    Maybe Sony can get Rain to play Kato, since Stephen Chow left the roll.
  • ogb
    Interesting

    They will have to be VERY VERY VERY careful in remaking Enter the Dragon, a movie which is considered the absolute best martial arts movie by a lot of people.

    I wasn't too interested in Ninja Assassin after the trailer, but the stunt real showed RAIN doing some pretty cool stuff.

    Still, it's Bruce Lee. Just that alone will result in criticism of the remake.

    Being a huge fan of Bruce (read all his books, watched all the documentaries, etc.) I obviously know that "RAIN" will never come remotely close to capturing the audience the way Bruce did but as a movie fan I say go for it, as long as it's a quality movie.
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