MovieChat Forums > A kaito (2000) Discussion > Live Action Remake?

Live Action Remake?

posted 17 years ago by CahillSellers
23 replies | jump to latest

I'm not trying to start any sort of internet rumor or anything like that, this is completely based on fact.
On the uncut edition, they have an interview where its brought up how God Awful director/producer/time and money wastrel Rob Cohen (XXX, Fast and the Furious) is planning on doing a live action remake? Any truth to this? CAN it be done technically, legally and/or morally? SHOULD it be done? And couldn't a better filmmaker have gotten the project? I mean, this guy's like the US equivalent of Uwe Boll, his movies are so horrendously bad I feel patronized by simply watching them.
Let's hope this gets nipped in the bud as soon as possible, or at least put in the hands of a competent director.

"But, hey, that's me, I could be wrong."

[–] matt_monster 17 years ago

I would personally stick with watching The Professional, then watch some porn afterward. I don't see a point in making a live action version of this, since 1/4 of the movie consisted of sex and rape.

--Money can't buy happiness? Well, I guess I'll have to rent it.--

Matt S.

[–] CahillSellers 17 years ago

Well, so did I Spit On Your Grave, and that was a good movie, but still...
it probably couldn't AND shouldn't be done either way. It's wrong enough as it is, let alone with actual people.

"But, hey, that's me, I could be wrong."

[–] flare8521 17 years ago

Technicaly? Of course, anything is possible.
Legally? As long as the actress for Sawa is 21 or older, yes.
Morally? yeah i'm less sure about that one...

Should it be done? Not by Rob that's for sure. And whoever does it, it couldn't be a big hit unless they heavily modify it. I like KITE and believe the 2 Sawa rape scene are necessary to understanding the movie and especialy the end. But a live-motion rape scenes could do the same job without the need to be as explicit as the ones in the anime. and of course, the actress for Sawa would NEED to look older than 21. Sawa looks ridiculously young.
Also, a full length movie could allow the characters and their stories to be a bit more developed. How was Oburi "hired"? How did the two pervs start their hit agency? How does that agency work?
With a good director, I think a live action movie could really be good. Too bad good directors are few and far between.

[–] CahillSellers 17 years ago

I'll skip the obvious joke nominating Roman Polanski for the job.
Maybe Walter Hill, or possibly the successful yet somehow still underrated Zach Snyder might be good choices. Luc Besson would be a choice selection, but he might have grown tired of this theme by now. Brian DePalma is good with extreme stuff, but he's been slipping lately (skip The Black Dahlia with a vengeance!).
Though personally, I'd like to see Ryuhei Kitamura direct it. Hopefully, his upcoming Midnight Meat Train will be good, in spite of its title. His only drawback is that he can get a little too silly sometimes, but maybe that's what the live action version would need. The story, while excellent, is a bit of a downer, so it may require a bit of lightening up.
Of course, the next big issue is finding two actors who would be willing to play the perverts. You don't get more disagreeable than those two and if the movie ends up being poorly done or exploiative, it could be career ending. I mean, you don't see the actors who played the killers in Last House on the Left in anything else after that one. Though I'd love to see Bruce Willis doing a cameo as the P. Willis twins.
And as you said, anything is possible.

"But, hey, that's me, I could be wrong."

[–] mefanch 16 years ago

she would only need to be 18, not 21.

I'm not sure that it should be remade as a movie though. Cartoon rape, while necessary to the story and understanding doesn't hit as hard as a live action rape scene. If it was done right....

[–] CahillSellers 16 years ago

The thing is though, it's going to be directed by Rob Cohen, so most likely it WON'T be done right. And this is one of those movies where if its done wrong, it'll be REALLY WRONG. And with Rob Cohen at the helm, it'll be worse than REALLY WRONG. So bad and wrong, they should have a new word for it, like badwrong, or ba-dong. Yes, Rob Cohen remaking Kite would be ba-dong.

"But, hey, that's me, I could be wrong."

[–] kingwiskers666 17 years ago

only 2 names come to mind...
Quentin muthafu***n Tarantino
and Rob rodriguez

[–] CahillSellers 17 years ago

Between the two, I'd lean towards Rodriguez. While Tarantino's action scenes are great, I don't think there's a director living today that can out do Robert Rodriguez when it comes to gun battles. His jaw dropping bullet ballets make me yell, "Dios Mio!"

"But, hey, that's me, I could be wrong."

[–] thedors 17 years ago

Tarantino did say it's one of his favorite movies...

[–] thedeadshallrise 16 years ago

The only person that could handle this film would be Takashi Mike. He would be perfect fro bringing all the content from the anime to the big screen. Now lets just be realistic, if this movie is re-made, chances are the rape sub-plot will be replaced with a more U.S. friendly "mom and dad were killed by bad guys so I must become a killer to avenge there death" story. A big studio behind this movie will kill it, a small independent studio will have more freedom to pursue the darker elements, that's where takashi comes in.

[–] CahillSellers 16 years ago

Not detracting the man's talent or anything, but I would be a little scared of a Miike rendition of Kite! I'm sure it would be friggin' AWESOME, but after Dead or Alive, Visitor Q, Ichi the Killer, and Audition, all that murder and sexual assault might be TOO intense. But without a doubt, it would be lengths and bounds above anything Rob Cohen could churn out. And if anyone is aware on how far they can push the boundaries, it's Takashi Miike.
I wonder who Kenichi Endo will play. Because if it's a Miike movie, he's GOTTA be in it! Like gravity and the tide, it's etched-in-stone, inarguable law.

"But, hey, that's me, I could be wrong."

[–] Firefox196 16 years ago

RoB Cohen is NOT directing this movie. He is only producing, and holds rights. This project has been around since 2003 and nothing has been done with it, so I highly doubt we'll hear anything about it soon.

Superman has returned and he's here to stay.

[–] CahillSellers 16 years ago

Well, if that's the case, you're probably right. Otherwise, the ball most likely would have gotten rolling during the writers guild strike. I hope they don't bother. It's not that I'm against remakes, I'm just against bad movies. And they need to understand that some movies just don't work as remakes, some of it has to do with the time period and society it reflects (the upcoming Battle Royale and The Warriors), sometimes it was one of those one shot deals that just worked when they had the right certain people working on it (Death Race 2000), some of them worked on a strange level that the people remaking it don't really get it at all (The Wicker Man).
Go ahead, remake a movie. Even if it's terrible, it'll at least increase and renew interest of the original. But jeez, at least put some damn effort into it.

"But, hey, that's me, I could be wrong."

[–] kazz_dali 16 years ago

TBH, I really can't see how a live action remake of Kite can be done by Hollywood. Considering the amount of political correctness these days, they remove the sex scenes just so the average Americans doesn't get offended by the sexual content. Then they probably go on to change the plot and the characters around, making it hardly related to the anime.

[–] CahillSellers 16 years ago

You know, I was just talking about that the other day. I've never understood why a movie like Rambo can have a two-hundred-plus (!) body count and get an R, but Clerks gets threatened with an NC-17 due to its DIALOGUE! (and for the record, I liked both films, though I still think Clerks is Kevin Smith's only good movie.) But with Kite, which barrages you with BOTH sexual content and graphic violence, I don't see how they'll be able to even do it. Plus, it's Rob Cohen, and he's not exactly a master of the cinematic arts.
I don't even get why people get all up in arms about this kind of stuff. It's just a friggin' MOVIE! I'm not against disclaimers or a ratings system, but let's have it make a little bit more sense when it comes to the criteria of what gets what rating and why.

"But, hey, that's me, I could be wrong."

[–] zmanatee 15 years ago

First things first, if Cohen directed the movie, he'd probably tone it way down to make it PG-13 (well, him or the studio behind it, anyway) in order to get more out of the box office, which would really ruin the entire concept of KITE's excellent plot. Having worked with Vin Diesel and the "badditude" idea, it would also hurt so much to make Sawa's looking at the screen in the beginning reflect as a "I live for this *beep* Triple-X stupid moment. Thus, Rob Cohen and studio money making plans would not do this anime justice. Having said that, giving it an "R" rating is no guarantee of critical success, either. Just look at the Resident Evil franchise. Want another example? AVP Requiem.

My opinion is that the movie maybe should be maybe a little more down to earth than the anime, and having a serious director behind it, being able to insert the rape scenes (not hardcore explicitly though) in a way that it is disturbing but not disgusting to the audience. But then again, "down to earthness" would screw up all those incredible action scenes...

Either that, or we might end up with a one-week-screening-then-straight-to-DVD film, or even worse.

Kite is my favorite Anime of them all, even being a huge Miyazaki fan, but there's something about the whole plot and characters that stands out like nothing else that's ever been done, at least not with such style. After being very disappointed with Kite Liberator, I'm really hoping to get a movie that I'll be watching over and over for years to come...

[–] wndyd95 13 years ago

You guys probs already heard this but from wiki (ya what of it) "A live action adaptation of Kite has been reported to be in various stages of pre-production for a number of years now, with American film director Rob Cohen attached as either director or producer. The content of the live action film is expected to be toned down from the original OVA. On September 2, 2011, David R. Ellis took the helm for the remake."

[–] SleuthoundSeburo 11 years ago

India Easley is going to play Kite. I kind of wish they went with a different actress but IE was badass in the last Underworld movie.
Either way can't wait to see this this year.

---

What kind of beast couldn't get along with a precious little girl like this?

[–] Onikun 10 years ago

Funny.

The OP was many many years ago about something that seemed very unlikely (I'm surprised myself the remake was made. Thought the film was very average.)

And now it's a reality and no one is posting about the remake!

[–] vandwedge 10 years ago

Would a live action adaptation of this be good? Think about it this way:

There has never been a good live action adaptation of any other anime, ever, so, no, I would have to say this one would not be good either.

Oh yes it's Laaarry Holmes/and the feeelin's right/Oh yes it's Laaarry Holmes/what a fight

[–] vandwedge 10 years ago

(four months later, the live action is out now)

I WAS RIGHT, IT WAS TERRIBLE

Oh yes it's Laaarry Holmes/and the feeelin's right/Oh yes it's Laaarry Holmes/what a fight

[–] lazarillo 10 years ago

I don't know why they bothered. I wasn't expecting a full-hentai adaptation, but if you take out the sex abuse scenes and the more sordid elements entirely, you're left with another second-rate "Hanna"--or "Kickass 2".

[–] Onikun 9 years ago

I find the Japanese, Korean, and Chinese live-action versions of anime are often quite competent given their very limited budgets.

The Fist of the North Star movie was not bad either, if you judged it solely compared to other B-movies.

The Dark Angel TV show was a decent inspired version of Battle Angel Alita as well.

It really depends on your expectations, IMHO. Cell-based anime is very cheap. Actors, sets, special and practical effects are not.
If Marvel-Disney or James Cameron actually thought they could make $1 Billion on something like Dragonball, you'd see something more amazing than any comic or cartoon can possibly show you.