Ghost of Tsushima movie will be "a complete Japanese cast, in Japanese"
"So, I think if we did this right, it would be visually stunning."
Director Chad Stahelski has confirmed that his movie adaptation of Ghost of Tsushima will be "a complete Japanese cast, in Japanese".
Speaking to Collider, Stahelski said that while it may "scare the shit out of most people", Sony is "on board with backing [him] on that" and "Western audiences in general are getting more and more used to [reading subtitles]".
"Honestly, it's probably the same things that would scare the shit out of most people. It's a fantasy period piece," he said. "It's done with reverence to Akira Kurosawa, who's probably in the top five biggest influences of my life as far as film goes. It's a chance to push technology and people in a story that's timeless. It's your typical mythological story of good versus evil, finding a man, watching him change the world or the world changes him. It's all the Joseph Campbell stuff that you'd love in a story. You put that in with, obviously, so I'm told I have a bit of a Samurai fetish, which is probably true from Manga and anime and stuff.
"So, I think if we did this right, it would be visually stunning," Stahelski added. "It's character driven. It's got an opportunity for great action, great looks. And honestly, we'd to try to do it, all in character. Meaning, it's a Japanese thing about the Mongols invading Tsushima island.
"A complete Japanese cast, in Japanese. Sony is so on board with backing us on that. I've been going to Japan since I was 16. I have a love of the country, love of the people, love of the language. To try to direct not only in my language, but someone else's and culturally shift my mindset to bring apart that in a cool way that still entices a Western audience."
Ghost of Tsushima has sold almost 10m copies since it launched in July 2020 and as part of the two-year anniversary celebrations, developer Sucker Punch revealed a number of stats about how we've played the game, including news that 9.73m copies have been sold since it released in the summer of 2020.
The sad news, though, is that the studio confirmed in April that it had stopped "actively working" on additional patches and content for Ghost of Tsushima.
Sadly, it doesn't look like we'll get the chance to play a new Sly cooper or Infamous game any tine soon, either. Sucker Punch - which was bought by Sony back in 2011 - recently confirmed it has "no plans to revisit" its Infamous or Sly Cooper franchises.
In a blog celebrating the studio's 25th anniversary earlier this month, the team said that whilst it was "proud to look back on the legacy of characters and stories" it had created, it is now focused "on [its] current project".
"As we approach 25 years since Sucker Punch first opened, we’re proud to look back on the legacy of characters and stories we’ve created, from Rocket: Robot on Wheels to Sly Cooper and infamous, and most recently Ghost of Tsushima," the developer said.