Warner Bros. Acquires ‘The Color Purple’ Director Blitz Bazawule’s Next Film ‘Black Samurai’

In a competitive situation, Warner Bros. has acquired the spec script “Black Samurai” by “The Color Purple” filmmaker Blitz Bazawule, who will also direct and produce through his Inward Gaze production company.

The script for “Black Samurai” follows historical figure Yasuke, an African warrior who served under Japanese daimyō Oda Nobunaga during the Sengoku period of samurai conflict in 16th century Japan.

This story has inspired countless pieces of pop culture, from the 1971 Shūsaku Endō novel “Kuronbō” to manga series “Afro Samurai” by Takashi Okazaki, which ran from 1998 to 2002 and inspired an anime series of the same name. There was also “Yasuke,” an anime series that ran on Netflix in 2021 (LaKeith Stanfield voiced the title character in the English dub). In 2017, a live-action film was being developed by Michael De Luca and Lionsgate, with Chadwick Boseman attached to star.

Bazawule is a Ghanaian filmmaker, author, musician and producer who worked with Beyoncé on “Black Is King,” the beautiful visual component to her album “The Gift” (which served as the soundtrack to the 2019 version of “The Lion King”). His approach to “Black Samurai” is being compared to groundbreaking films such as “300” and “Mad Max.”

There are currently no additional attachments to “Black Samurai.”

Bazawule is represented by CAA, M88 and Granderson Des Rochers.

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