"If you've ever watched any ninja films from the 1980s, you know that Sho Kosugi is the ninja; he is the man.
He was the only person who could impart the discipline of Lord Ozunu. He embodied the clan master."
- James McTeigue, Director
"We're both huge Sho Kosugi fans. He's a master martial artist. I remember the first day he came to our training facility in Berlin,
in his sweat suit, with a bag of practice swords. He was in fantastic shape, warmed right up, jumped right in. We thought we were going
to have an easy day with him, since he was right off the plane. But he didn't want to stop. He was there for a solid two hours with us,
and then was in the gym every day with us after that. His dedication to the craft was extraordinary."
- Chad Stahelski and Dave Leitch, Fight Choreographers
"I was shocked when I saw the script, when I saw the name Ozunu, I smiled because what most people don't know is there
was a real Ozunu, who was born in the Kinki District and is the ancestor of the Shugenja, mountain warriors who practiced
Shugendo. He's an ancestor of the ninjutsu. So the research was so good. To play this role, I was honored to do that."
- Sho Kosugi
|
Staff |
|
Cast |
|
||
|
Distribution |
WARNER BROS. PICTURES |
RAIN |
Raizo |
||
|
|
|
NAOMIE HARRIS |
Mika Coretti |
||
|
Production |
WARNER BROS. PICTURES |
BEN MILES |
Ryan Maslow |
||
|
|
DARK CASTLE ENTERTAINMENT |
RICK YUNE |
Takeshi |
||
|
|
LEGENDARY PICTURES |
SHO KOSUGI |
Ozunu |
||
|
|
SILVER PICTURES |
RANDALL DUK KIM |
Tattoo Master |
||
|
|
ANARCHOS PRODUCTIONS |
SUNG KANG |
Hollywood |
||
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Music by |
ILAN ESHKERI |
Rest of Cast in Order of Appearance |
|
||
|
|
|
JONATHAN CHAN-PENSLEY |
Yakuza Henchman |
||
|
Edited by |
GIAN GANZIANO |
YUKI IWAMOTO |
Yakuza Couch |
||
|
|
JOSEPH JETT SALLY |
ILL-YOUNG KIM |
Yakuza Mohawk |
||
|
|
|
LINH DAN PHAM |
Pretty Ninja |
||
|
Production Designer |
GRAHAM 'GRACE' WALKER |
YU FANG |
Laundromat Manager |
||
|
|
|
ADRIANA ALTARAS |
Landlady |
||
|
Director of Photography |
KARL WALTER LINDENLAUB |
KYLIE LIYA GOLDSTEIN |
Young Kiriko |
||
|
|
|
YOON SUNGWOONG |
Young Raizo |
||
|
Fight Choreographers |
CHAD STAHELSKI |
ELEONORE WEISGERBER |
Mrs. Sabatin |
||
|
|
DAVE LEITCH |
WLADIMIR TARASJANZ |
Aleksei Sabatin |
||
|
|
JON VALERA |
JOON LEE |
Teenage Raizo |
||
|
|
JONATHAN EUSEBIO |
KAI FUNG RIECK |
Teenage Takeshi |
||
|
|
|
ANNA SAWAI |
Teenage Kiriko |
||
|
Executive Producers |
THOMAS TULL |
THORSTON MANDERLAY |
Agent Zabranski |
||
|
|
JON JASHNI |
RICHARD VAN WEYDEN |
Ibn Battuta |
||
|
|
STEVE RICHARDS |
MINA GHOUSI |
Kid with Envelope |
||
|
|
|
HANS HOHLBEIN |
Mika's Neighbor |
||
|
Produced by |
JOEL SILVER |
STEPHEN MARCUS |
Kingpin |
||
|
|
ANDY WACHOWSKI |
NHI NGOC NGUYEN-HERMANN |
Girl on Roof |
||
|
|
LARRY WACHOWSKI |
GUIDO FÖHRWEIßER |
Lead Europol Agent |
||
|
|
GRANT HILL |
TIM WILLIAMS |
Europol Cell Guard |
||
|
|
|
DAVID LEITCH |
Europol Door Guard |
||
|
Story by |
MATTHEW SAND |
WOLFGANG STEGEMANN |
Europol Pointman |
||
|
|
|
STEFFEN GROTH |
Europol Guard #1 |
||
|
Screenplay by |
MATTHEW SAND |
JENS NEUHAUS |
Europol Guard #2 |
||
|
|
J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI |
PATRICK PINHEIRO |
Maslow's Aide |
||
|
|
|
MATTHIAS SCHENDEL |
Task Force Agent |
||
|
Directed by |
JAMES McTEIGUE |
JOHANNES AHN |
Medic |
||
|
|
|||||
|
The Press Release |
|||||
|
"Ninja Assassin" Starts Production In Berlin
|
|||||
|
Comments about Sho's involvement in the film |
|||||
|
From Comic-Con 2008 - Ninja Assassin Panel Presentation, July 24, 2008
Reporter: Could you talk about Sho Kosugi's involvement. If you're doing a ninja film, he's pretty much the guy to go to. How did he get involved?
James McTeigue: He got involved because I thought it would be you know a good homage. You know he was in so many of those films. But if you talk to him he'll tell you he was only in like three, but he's forever known as being in ninja films. And I just wondered where he was, you know wondered what he was up to these days. And he went off and formed some martial arts schools in America and Japan so he hadn't been in movies for a while. And I thought it would be good if he was like the clan master. He'd be a good kind of homage back to the ninja films of the past. So yeah, we rang him up and we asked him actually. [LAUGHS] He came in, screen tested, thought he was good so we put him in the film. Yeah. |
|||||
|
From Comic-Con 2008 courtesy of movieweb.com
Reporter: Did you delve into the Ninja genre before taking this project on and look at some of the older films?
James McTeigue: Uh yeah, you know, I mean I think, you know, I've known them since I was kid so uh it was a... it was more of a re-acquaintance I guess, you know. I guess the one that I hadn't seen for a long time was Shinobi no Mono which is like a classic kind of you know 50s one, but you know obviously I knew all the Sho Kosugi movies from the 80s, all, yeah the great ninja movies, so yeah a little re-acquaintance with 'em. |
|||||
|
From Comic-Con 2008 courtesy of IESB.com
Reporter: You know seriously, we haven't had a good ninja movie since like Pray For Death or something, right?
James McTeigue: Yeah right. Uh yeah, you know I was interested in like you know making a ninja movie that was set like in a modern context, you know because I guess like ninjas are so timeless you know that uh... But I was also um interested that you know you put them in a modern context people like go oh that's kind of cool, I haven't seen that in a while. I haven't seen it since some of the classic '80s Ninja movies I guess.
Reporter: And the fact that you bring in Sho Kosugi to be in the movie as well...
James McTeigue: Yeah.
Reporter: Did you bring his kids in too, 'cause they're pretty badass as well?
James McTeigue: No, just uh Sho. You know you can only have one Kosugi in one movie, but he's pretty awesome. He uh, he plays the clan boss. He plays a pretty awesome clan boss. Rules with an iron fist. |
|||||
|
From Comic-Con 2008 courtesy of IESB.net
Reporter: So alright, you know, we all grew up in the, especially my generation of the 30 something year-olds grew up watching the Sho Kosugi films Pray for Death, Revenge of the Ninja... Were they really popular in Korea?
Rain: Uh... Yes, he's um... he's very very popular, you know, he's good act... you know, he's um... good actor, yeah. And good movie, you know.
Reporter: Not only, you know, the fact that he's in your film as well, was that kind of cool to see the fact that you had one of the guys who portrayed one of the orig... the, you know, the 80s ninja movement was there working with you in this film as well?
Rain: Uh, you know, it's new stuff. So different, you know. If you see the movie, you're gonna like it, you know, 'cause you'll figure it out. Yeah, that is perfect, I think.
|
|||||
|
Comic-Con 2008 Interview clips |
|||||
|
From movieweb.com |
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|||
|
James McTeigue |
Rain |
Naomie Harris |
|||
|
|
|
|
|||
|
From IESB.net |
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|||
|
James McTeigue |
Rain |
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|||
|
From joblo.com |
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|||
|
James McTeigue and Rain |
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|||
|
From ign.com |
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|||
|
James McTeigue, Naomi, Rain |
|
|
|||
|
Comic-Con 2008 Ninja Assassin Panel Presentation Transcript |
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
