By Mark Pollard | Published February 25, 2008

In a move with the potential to single-handedly revive the ninja genre, The Wachowski brothers have recruited South Korean pop star-turned-actor, Rain (aka Jung Ji-hoon) to star in their next film with a title that says it all.

NINJA ASSASSIN is set to begin production in Berlin next month and wrap in July. Larry and Andy Wachowski are producing with V FOR VENDETTA helmer James McTeigue directing.

In South Korea and other parts of Asia, Rain is a hugely popular singing and dancing pop star, akin to America’s Justin Timberlake or Taiwan’s Jay Chou. Time magazine has picked Rain as one of the “world’s 100 most influential people in the world.” So far, he has only appeared in a handful of Korean TV shows and movies, most recently I’M A CYBORG, BUT THAT’S OK.

Audiences will have to wait till next year to witness his ninja screen-fighting skills but Rain may have a chance to show off his potential in an action role when he appears in a supporting role in the Wachowski’s SPEED RACER, coming to theaters May 9th.

Ninjas on screen first became popular internationally in the early 1980s amid the success of Sonny Chiba’s SHADOW WARRIORS TV series. Around the same time, Hong Kong action filmmakers like Ng See-yuen began tapping into ninja conventions to broaden their already sizable action film repertoire. The phenomenon hit the States in a big way with the release of ENTER THE NINJA (1981), a Westernized take on the genre. This led to a whole string of modern-day ninja flicks starring the likes of Sho Kosugi and Michael Dudikoff. Hollywood even produced its own short-lived ninja TV series, THE MASTER, starring former spaghetti Western legend Lee Van Cleef.

Aside from periodic low-budget revivals in Japan, the ninja genre has largely lain dormant. One exception has been in the indie action film arena where guerilla filmmakers like The Stunt People and Britain’s Ara Paiaya have paid homage to this genre with short-film parodies.

Details on NINJA ASSASSIN are scarce at the moment but rumors are circulating around the web that the script may be based on the anime hit NINJA SCROLL. The stylized, fantasy action in that film would certainly be a natural fit for the Wachowskis, who have long used anime as a strong visual influence for their own work.

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Anime  •  ninja  •  pop star  •  upcoming