JOHN WICK's Chad Stahelski Talks About Developing the "Amazing Visuals" of His Movie GHOST OF TSUSHIMA
Chad Stahelski’s John Wick: Chapter 4 was unleashed in theaters this past weekend and was met with a lot of praise from fans and critics. The director is now working on developing a feature film adaptation of the samurai video game Ghost of Tsushima, which is something that I’ve been very excited about because the game is incredible and so beautiful.
In a recent interview with Discussing Film, Stahelski talked about the project and the approach he is looking to take with it. He specifically talked about the amazing visuals of the game and how he’s going to try and exceed what the games did in his movie. He explained:
“Ghost of Tsushima is a really interesting story if you really dive into the tale of Jin Sakai and what the film is really about. And you tie him to these amazing visuals. You can already tell from the John Wick films that I love color and I love composition. To really try and not only live up to but exceed what the game has done with its visuals is completely fascinating to me. So that’s something we’re currently researching and working on. Like, how can you push the color palette? How can you bring that world to life in a very realistic and grounded way?”
I hope that he can actually pull off what he’s hoping to do with the movie visually. The game is so well-made and the visuals in it are incredible, especially with the use of color, so Stahelski certainly has his work cut out for him.
When previously talking about his vision for the movie, Stahelski said that the project will feature "a complete Japanese cast, in Japanese." He also plans to create an authentic Japanese experience and celebrate his "love of the country, love of the people, love of the language." He said”
"Honestly, it's probably the same things that would scare the shit out of most people. It's a fantasy period piece. It's done with reverence to Akira Kurosawa, who's probably in the top five biggest influences of my life as far as film goes.
"It's a chance to push technology and people in a story that's timeless. It's your typical mythological story of good versus evil, finding a man, watching him change the world or the world changes him. It's all the Joseph Campbell stuff that you'd love in a story. You put that in with, obviously, so I'm told I have a bit of a Samurai fetish, which is probably true from Manga and anime and stuff.
"So, I think if we did this right, it would be visually stunning. It's character driven. It's got an opportunity for great action, great looks. And honestly, we'd to try to do it, all in character. Meaning, it's a Japanese thing about the Mongols invading Tsushima island.”
He went on to say that Sony Pictures completely backs his vision for the film: "A complete Japanese cast, in Japanese. Sony is so on board with backing us on that. I've been going to Japan since I was 16.” He added:
"I have a love of the country, love of the people, love of the language. To try to direct not only in my language, but someone else's and culturally shift my mindset to bring apart that in a cool way that still entices a Western audience."
I like what Stahelski is looking to do with the movie. I’m on board with his vision, and and I’m excited to see him execute his vision!