Sam Raimi to remake ‘House of Flying Daggers?’

HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS

MoviesOnline is reporting that SPIDER-MAN director Sam Raimi intends to shoot a remake of Zhang Yimou’s 2004 romantic wuxia film HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS. They cite subscription-only industry insider publication Production Weekly as the source.

This may be a first. To my knowledge there has never been a Hollywood remake of a wuxia movie although just about every other Asian action genre has been copied or is already in the process of being remade. Akira Kurosawa’s jidai geki SEVEN SAMURAI was remade by John Sturges into a western in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. Shintaro Katsu’s chambara character “Zatoichi” provided inspiration for BLIND FURY, starring Rutger Hauer. Hong Kong crime thriller INFERNAL AFFAIRS was made into THE DEPARTED by Martin Scorsese. Bruce Lee kung fu classic ENTER THE DRAGON is supposedly being remade into a noir underground fight film called AWAKEN THE DRAGON.

If this film really ends up being made I cannot imagine what it will look like. There are so many questions. Will it have wirework and martial arts action in it? Will it be set in a jiang hu-like realm as this and every other wuxia movie is? How do you translate a wuxia movie into anything but a wuxia movie? I could maybe see it being transferred to the Western genre with guns replacing swords and horses replacing wires. Who knows?

My biggest question is why HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS? I realize that the film was well received internationally as evidenced by high marks on both Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb but in my humble opinion the movie had a really mediocre soap opera story that was made worse by late changes to the script. Then you have exquisite visuals and wire action that cannot possibly be improved upon by Raimi. There’s nothing here for any Hollywood filmmaker to justifiably work with. Why didn’t he pick one of the other hundreds of wuxia movies released since the 1960s? Why not a King Hu classic like DRAGON GATE INN?

Frankly, this news has me befuddled but I’m intrigued by it all the same.

Discuss this topic in our comments section below or in our related forum thread.

Tags: upcoming, Wuxia, Zhang Yimou

KINGKILLER

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

No one is trying, no one is paying attention, no one is using their imagination, wtf is a remake of an already mediocre film by a mediocre (if not cult film director) going to do for anyone except make long lines for the exit doors? If you go see ANY hollywood film you're wasting your money. Just save up all those 13 dollars you're spending to see that garbage and buy yourself some damn camera equipment and some editing software. Make your own movies, they're going to end up a lot better than anything you'd see in the theatre, even if it sucks by hollywood comparison. DIY.

ZenShiite

I'd like to see this remade as Evil Dead 4: The House of Flying Boomstick.

HVC

No one ever accused the Hollywood machine of making smart or even intelligent decisions.

R.J.

Why!!? HOTFD is already good as it is! If he wants a part two, ok, but don't remake this when there are so many other wuxia low budget flix that can be remade! Is he doing a zombie/ horror remake? Is it a porn version? What can possibly be done to this movie? ENTER THE DRAGON!? don't get me started! I've been loosing respect for Hollywood.

Jay

This one makes absolutely no sense, and my BS detector is flashing.

BruisedLo

haha i hate house of flying daggers anyway. raimi should be working on the next spidey movie, and not be remaking a chinese flick. xD

inframan

We at the very least we can look forward seeing how the Bruce Campbell cameo will be worked in.

Why Sam, why?

Jazz Man

WHY WILL HE REMAKE THIS????

It's bad enough that Hollywood already remakes other foreign films. Can't they atleast leave the traditional Wuxia films alone? I'm so tired of Hollywood doing this shit!
They just don't have any respect for foreign films. Screw Hollywood and their million-dollar CGI bung hole!!

WuxiaFan

I agree with Mark. Unless he's just a big fan of this particular movie, I don't' get it. HOFD didn't go over very well when it played in the States, and, yes, the movie is nothing to write home about. I was always disappointed that Zimou left the audience hanging at the end when the govt troops were closing in on the Daggers' hideout in the bamboo forest. Talk about a missed grand finale in a perfect setting! And speaking of the bamboo forest fight scene, it's one of the best ever filmed! There's no way that scene could be replicated not in a bamboo forest.

107

Where can I get a job recycling old ideas in a new outfit?

Really, this is not the music industry where covers can be made in such a short time and expect to be better.

Rhythm-X

Odd, so very odd. Then again, I can't really get too bent out of shape, as it's not like he's besmirching a timeless classic... SEVEN SAMURAI this is not. Plus, Raimi's been a fan of Hong Kong cinema going way back and I don't see him making a travesty of it - how can you make a travesty of such an inconsequential film anyway? No, I'm genuinely curious about this.

Richmond

Honestly, I thought Raimi was above this kind of thing. His time could be better spent making up for Spider Man 3.

pangGo

dang i swear. i cant believe they even remade "My Sassy Girl" too, my lil sis was maddd! haha, but she said it was okay because the american version pretty much hit the target points, so idk. anywayse, about the "ENTER THE DRAGON" , i think that "BALLS OF FURY" was already a remake, however its a comedy, but it stills has just about the same storyline. but, yeah.... hope it goes well tho.

sowutifmahsnsux

i'm sick of hollywood remakes, especially so "soon" after the originals. it has seriously become an epidemic. i think i remember hearing at one point SPL was going to be remade and i was just incredulous. please never let THAT happen...