I missed this on Monday, but Hollywood Reporter has revealed that action movie director John Woo and game designer Warren Spector are teaming up to work on a new movie/videogame project named Ninja Gold. The story revolves around a traditional Ninja warrior who must adapt to operate in the modern world of covert warfare.
"The game concept is actually based on facts that the Yakuza and the Russian mob are involved in tons of gold being stolen in South Africa," Terrence Chang, Woo's production partner, told Hollywood Reporter.
Woo has appparently been involved in creating the cast of characters and some key set-pieces for the game, and these will transfer to the movie - although the game will have a more fantasy-based scenario. Spector will oversee the game, but will also have a production credit on the film. All very cosy.
John Woo is one of several mainstream directors to get intimately involved with videogames. He co-owns a development studio, Tiger Hill Entertainment; its promising shooter, Stranglehold, will be released by Midway later this year. As for Spector, this isn't his first dalliance with the movie world - Columbia Pictures optioned his dark PC adventure Deus Ex for a movie back in 2002, but nothing happened. It is, however, difficult to imagine a John Woo movie about gold hunting ninjas not making it to multiplex screens everywhere.
