Ghost of Tsushima Movie Coming From John Wick Director

Get out your sword polish, the director of John Wick is making a samurai epic. News has broken today that Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions are partnering for their second film (after the oft-delayed Uncharted, due out in Feb. of 2022), an adaptation of 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima. The game has been one of the strongest sellers over the lifetime of the PS4, recently passing 6.5 million copies since July 2020—an especially massive number for a first-party original IP.

Sucker Punch Productions’ Ghost of Tsushima revolves around lone samurai warrior Jin Sakai, the last surviving member of a clan, as he wages a guerilla war against invading Mongols in the late 1200s. We were somewhat lukewarm on the game’s attempt to translate the samurai film tradition of Akira Kurosawa and others, but it did make for a compelling amount of horse snuggling at the very least.

In the game, Jin Sakai is portrayed by actor Daisuke Tsuji, also familiar to viewers of Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle as the Crown Prince. It’s unclear if Tsuji would have a chance to portray Sakai in a live action setting, but let’s just hope the film doesn’t dare to turn its protagonist into a white guy “adopted” by a samurai lord.

“We’re excited to be partnering with Chad and 87Eleven Entertainment, to bring their vision of Jin’s story to the big screen,” said Asad Qizilbash, Head of PlayStation Productions. “We love working with creative partners like Chad, who have a passion for our games, ensuring we can create rich adaptations that will excite our fans and new audiences.”

It can be assumed that any take on Ghost of Tsushima directed by John Wick’s Chad Stahelski will be absolutely awash in blades and carnage, perhaps in the vein of Takashi Miike’s 13 Assassins. The director is about to step behind the camera on John Wick 4, but Ghost of Tsushima will represent a chance for him to finally step outside the hitman franchise he first created in 2014. We’ll bring you more information on this potential blockbuster adaptation as it breaks.