As was first mentioned here, “The Lord of the Rings” producer Barrie Osborne will return to New Zealand next month to produce fantasy action film Laundry Warrior.
Variety adds that the English-language heroic tale begins shooting Nov. 12 in Auckland with a cast headed by Geoffrey Rush, Kate Bosworth and Korean star Jang Dong-gun .
Written and directed by Sngmoo Lee, the film has a $40 million budget through Sad Flutes, a company set up by Osborne, Michael Peyser (Speed 2, Imagining Argentina) and Lee Joo-ick (Seven Swords).
The story sees a fugitive Asian warrior (Jang) hide out in the American badlands, where the town drunk turns out to be another fighter in retirement (Rush) and the circus knife thrower is a young woman (Bosworth) hell-bent on revenge for abuses in her youth.
Lee, who has taught for five years at the New York Film School, will make his helming debut.
Production will employ extensive green screen techniques, and post-production will involve the use of effects houses including Weta Digital in New Zealand and others in Korea, India and the U.S.
“We draw on two great milieux, the Samurai movie and the Western,” Peyser said. “We will deliver a stylized, partly anime feel, with the techniques of ‘300,’ but a look that is brighter.”
The cast also includes Tony Cox (Bad Santa), and Thomas Haden Church (Spider-Man 3) is in advanced negotiations.
