Netflix has procured the rights to Marc Olden’s Black Samurai novels and will be developing it into a new film and a possible franchise.
Olden’s eight-novel pulp series begins with the eponymous book. It revolves around an American soldier in Japan, Robert Sand, who works as an agent of D.R.A.G.O.N. and is a martial arts student.
Olden, a black belt in karate and aikido, made Sand’s accurate and riveting portrayal in his novel. He trains under a sensei called Master Konuma. However, when terrorists kill Konuma, Sand grapples with the thirst to seek revenge and sets out to find the murderers with a sword in his hand.
Sand has previously appeared in Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon and was played by Jim Kelly. Sand had also appeared in Al Adamson’s 1977 blaxploitation film, Black Samurai.
According to the latest T.H.R. reports, John Schoenfelder and Russell Ackerman will allegedly produce the project.
Netflix already has an animated series called Yasuke based on a black samurai, loosely based on Sand’s character. LaKeith Stanfield voices the main character. Late Chadwick Boseman was supposed to star in a film about Yasuke.
Netflix will derive inspiration from the pulpy ’70s fiction for this upcoming film.
