Some of you may probably not know about The Outsider. It was this interesting looking film which when announced sounded quite promising. The film’s plot revolves around the idea of a former POW (Prisoner Of War) in post World War 2 Japan who rises up through the ranks in the Yakuza. Based on an idea by John Linson (Sons of Anarchy) the plot makes it sound really interesting in its own right and after what happened with 47 Ronin, sounded very promising. But the most exciting thing about the film came from news about who was to star in it and who was to direct it. The film was to star Tom Hardy (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises) and to be directed by Japanese Movie Master as well as one of the most prolific directors in cinema today, Takashi Miike (13 Assassins, Ichi the Killer).
So with one of the finest actors in cinema today teaming up with one of the world’s most renowned directors in the world today teaming up on a film that in its own right, sounded amazing, I was really looking forward to The Outsider. Sadly however there has been some unfortunate news. It turns out that Tom Hardy has left the project while production was underway, as a result the film needed to find a new star, and as this caused scheduling difficulties, it means that Takashi Miike is no longer available to direct. So the film has no lead and no director.
As far as I know, the film is still to be produced, so I thought I would give my own take on how this whole situation can be turned around. If the studio wants to get the proper direction, then a local director would be best, so this leaves two options. Either wait until Takashi Miike is available again or find another prolific director in the area. One name that comes to my mind is Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus). While he has not made as many films as Miike, (Kitamura = 16, Miike = 85+), I think Kitamura is the man for the job as he is one of the country’s top directors at the moment, and if it is the case that Kitamura is not interested, well, while he may not be Japanese, The Outsider’s producers could look into asking Bong Joon-ho (The Host). As for a replacement for Hardy, well, why not Mark Strong (Sherlock Homes, Welcome To The Punch). I think it would work quite well.
I really do hope though that The Outsider gets produced, it sounds really good and has a lot of potential, providing it comes together alright.
GENEPOOL
Numb3r5s's Blog 