Lupin star Omar Sy is reportedly in talks to star in a five-part Netflix series on samurai legend Yasuke. The five-part series will be written by Nick Jones Jr.
“Getting a chance to finally bring Yasuke’s legendary true story to life has been a dream of mine ever since I served in Japan as a Marine,” Jones said in a statement, per The Hollywood Reporter‘s exclusive.
Yasuke was brought to feudal Japan under enslavement and became the country’s first non-Japanese samurai, serving under the Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga in 1581 and 1582.
The five-part Yasuke series will be executive produced by Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi under Significant Productions.
“This is the perfect project for what Forest and I strive for — the intersectionality of two cultures through great storytelling,” Bongiovi said in a statement. “To bring a real-life, historical figure to the forefront, paired with incredible action, with faces that represent both Black and Asian heritage — behind the camera and in front of the camera — equates a total dream scenario.”
This isn’t the first time Yasuke’s story has been translated to screen. LaKeith Stanfield previously voiced the samurai legend in an anime series for Netflix.
“I’ve been inspired by Yasuke for quite a while,” Sy said in a statement. “With this superb team, we are creating a remarkable series showcasing what it meant to be an African samurai in Japanese history. The action sequences alone are going to be phenomenal and ingenious.”