MGM will mount Yasuke, an action film that is based on the true story of history’s only recorded African samurai in feudal Japan. Stuart C. Paul has written the script and Whalerock Industries’ Lloyd Braun and Andrew Mittman are producing. The latter has joined the exec ranks at MGM and will steer the project.
A native of Portuguese Mozambique, Yasuke was taken captive and brought to 16th-century Japan as a slave to Jesuit missionaries. The first black man to set foot on Japanese soil, Yasuke’s arrival arouses the interest of Oda Nobunaga, a ruthless warlord seeking to unite the fractured country under his banner. The script focuses on the complex relationship between the two men as Yasuke earns Nobunaga’s friendship, respect — and ultimately, the honor, swords and title of samurai.
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deadline.com/2019/04/yasuke-mgm-african-samurai-film-1201904332/amp/