The legendary Horiyuki Sanada, star of hit Amazon TV series Shogun, is in talks for a role in the upcoming Ghost of Tsushima film.
That’s according to veteran movie tipster DanielRPK, who shared word of the discussions over the weekend.
Sanada, who played Toranaga-sama in Shogun, is also known for his roles in The Last Samurai, Sunshine and Lost. He’s next set to appear on cinema screens in another video game adaptation: Mortal Kombat 2.
While this isn’t yet a confirmation of Sanada’s involvement by PlayStation Studios itself, fans are already celebrating the actor’s potential involvement – and speculating who he might play.
The obvious choice is Lord Shimura, the uncle and protector to Ghost of Tsushima’s protagonist Jin.
“As much as I want the cast of the game to reprise their roles, he would be a killer Shimura,” one fan wrote on reddit.
“He’s pretty much perfect as Lord Shimura,” wrote another. “I would be very surprised if he was cast as anyone else.”
Sony announced a film adaptation of Ghost of Tsushima in 2021, helmed by Chad Stahelski (director of John Wick: Chapter 4 – which also stars Sanada).
Progress on the project has been relatively slow, with Takashi Doscher named as its writer in 2022. But Stahelski has continued to discuss the project, and has said his desire is for “a complete Japanese cast, [speaking] in Japanese” throughout.
Developed by Sony’s Sucker Punch studio, Ghost of Tsushima originally launched for PlayStation 4 in 2020, and finally arrived for PC last month. As ever, Digital Foundry has cast its beady eyes over the Ghost of Tsushima PC port.
