In autumn 2005 Tom Dey, director of Shanghai Noon and Failure to Launch,
sent me a visual presentation of his ideas for a film of The Last
Samurai. The images were astonishingly beautiful, reminiscent of the
vision of Kurosawa at his best -- and corresponded disconcertingly often
to images I had had in my own mind as I wrote the book. I was convinced
that Dey could make a film comparable in stature to those with which
Kurosawa had made his name.
Those who know nothing of the movie business will imagine that nothing
more could be wanted to conclude a deal. Those familiar with the
business will know that most deals go through only against stiff
opposition from the business representatives of the principals. I could
not take time away from the book I was writing to engage in
negotiations, so it has taken all this time to get a contract written
and signed.
Dey would like to include animations of some of the scripts learnt by
Ludo. Some examples of the sort of thing he has in mind can be seen at
Kanji Café
and at Arabic Typography.
If you know Greek, Arabic, Hebrew or Japanese and have an idea he would love
to see
a demo.
Contact tomdey (at) mac.com
Bizniz
A copy of the option contract is available for download in Word
or PDF.