Back when the surprise hit Parasite won the Academy Award for Best Film in 2020, internationally acclaimed filmmaker Bong Joon-ho reminded viewers that “Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” Now, in an exclusive interview with Collider, film director Chad Stahelski (John Wick: Chapter 4) is echoing those words and teasing that he intends to prove Bong right by filming the upcoming Ghost of Tsushima movie adaptation entirely in Japanese.

Inspired by the body of work from legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, Ghost of Tsushima was released for PlayStation 4 in 2020, and has since become one of the most acclaimed and fastest-selling titles, with over 9 million copies sold within two years of the game’s release. The game’s audio options came with a Japanese track (with English subtitles), in order for players to have a much more immersive experience when embodying a character from 13th-century Japan. The film's adaptation with Stahelski was announced earlier this year, much to the excitement of fans of the video game.

The director talked to our own Steve Weintraub during a press tour for Day Shift, and revealed that, like most of us, he’s “super excited” for the Ghost of Tsushima adaptation. Up first, he told us why he wanted to take on the material and revealed his plan to film the movie in Japanese.

"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. 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. 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.

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Image via Sony

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And while Parasite and Netflix’s Squid Game have shown with the right material, Americans will read subtitles, statistically speaking, subtitled properties have struggled at the box office. Stahelski knows this and explains why he thinks they can pull it off with Ghost of Tsushima:

"I thought about that a lot what you're talking about. If you come into my offices in Manhattan Beach, I have an entire walls and hallways of frames from the best silent films of all time. Fatty Arbuckle to Buster Keaton, to Charlie Chaplin, to the Keystone cops. Look, I believe in that. I believe that's why Jackie Chan was successful is you didn't have to speak Cantonese or Mandarin to get him. You saw it on his face.

There's a way to direct actors. There's a way to do it. Where a look can mean a look which can mean a look, which mean there are a lot of ways to do it. So, part of the challenge, not to jump over your question, but look, I think there's a way to do it. And a way to direct the cast and a way to mellow dramatically enhance facial performance. So, if I turn the sound off, I want you to know what the scene is about, in whatever language."

We went on to talk about how he knows it’s going to be a challenge and how he also needs to be fiduciarily responsible to the studio.

“No one is going to give me $200 million to do a technology-push movie without speaking English. I get it. So, I have to be clever and I have to figure out what's fiduciarily responsible to the property, to the studio and still get what I want out of it and still make it something epic. Again, big challenge, man. And we're entering two a time where I think that's, I'm like you, man. I'll read subtitles all day. And I think America in general, or at least the Western audiences in general are getting more and more used to that because of the influence of Netflix and streamers and stuff, where we get so much more of a world content.

Will they show up in the theaters for that? I'm banking on yes, if everything else is there. I think it could hurt me or hurt the property if you're failing a little less in each, visually it's not great, the action is okay, the story is not clear. Look, if I nail all the other bits, I think I can inspire you enough to get in the car and go to the theater.”

While an adaptation like this might be a risky one, both the video game and Stahelski have built-in fan bases that are certain to help make the film a success. Sony has yet to reveal further details from the Ghost of Tsushima movie adaptation, but the excitement is real. Watch what else Stahelski had to say about the film in the player below:

And while we wait for Weintraub's full interview, check out some of what else Stahelski told us: