‘The Color Purple’ filmmaker Blitz Bazawule to take legendary African samurai ‘Yasuke’ to ‘300’ territory

Thomas Lockley’s “Yasuke” Novel

An “action film” adaptation of the true story of Yasuke ( “the first African samurai to swing a sword in Japan”) – who served under Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga in 16th century Japan – is in development from Warner Bros and Blitz Bazawule, the filmmaker behind last year’s adaptation of The Color Purple.

Insiders say the original approach from Bazawule (who is also writing) is being compared to groundbreaking films like 300 and Mad Max (via Deadline).

There are currently no stars attached to the project, but at one point, the late Chadwick Boseman (Avengers: Endgame) was officially set to play the title character.

Many publications have explored the subject of Yasuke, such as Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girard’s African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan and Yasuke.; as well as Jamal Turner’s Yasuke The Legend of the African Samurai and Jeff Taylor’s Yasuke (African Samurai): The Life and Legend of Japan’s First African Samurai. The story of Yasuke was also made into Netflix’ 2021 animated series, Yasuke.

Obviously, the upcoming Yasuke film is not connected to the Marc Olden book series or the 1976 Jim Kelly film of the same name (in fact, a series related to Olden’s book, starring Common, is also currently in development).

We’ll keep you updated on the Yasuke film as we learn more.