China’s Zhejiang Jinke Entertainment has unveiled a partnership with Kurosawa Production that will see the two companies produce unfinished or unmade titles by the late Akira Kurosawa. The first movie to be made by the pair will be the Japanese master’s unfinished “Silvering Spear.”
Jinke is a publisher of mobile applications in China, and was listed on the Shenzhen stock market in 2015. Kurosawa Production is the 58-year-old company established by Kurosawa and now operated by his grandson Ko Kurosawa.
Akira Kurosawa, the director of such classics as “Seven Samurai,” “Yojimbo” and “Rashomon,” died in 1998. His “Kagemushka” won the Palme d’Or in Cannes in 1980.
The deal between Jinke and Kurosawa Production was announced Thursday on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival. The agreement covers all of Kurosawa’s unfinished features, with the exception of “The Mask of the Black Death.”
Set in the Warring States period, “Silvering Spear” is the tale of a samurai who seeks to use his exceptional talents in altruistic and peace-loving ways. However, he finds himself manipulated by a group of bandits. Production is expected to begin in 2018.
"We look forward to giving [Kurosawa’s] millions of fans around the world the chance to experience one of his final masterpieces,” said Takayuki Kato, another of the director’s grandsons and a consultant on the project. “We hope this will be the first of many projects on which we work together with Jinke Entertainment.”
"We hope to replicate the success we have achieved in the mobile gaming space in the motion picture genre,” said Jinke’s deputy GM, Zhang Zhengfeng. “We are pleased to have the full support of Mr. Kurosawa’s family and team on this important endeavor, and will honor the work of the Asian film master by creating a high-quality film production.”