Universal gets ninja style

Ghosts. Robots. Aliens. To this august list of cool cultural icons we must of course add ninjas. They’re silent. They’re deadly. Some of them are teenage mutant turtles. And we’re all obsessed with them.

Which means it’s a smart studio – in this case, Universal – that grabs hold of a recent ninja project and decides to give it a makeover. Shinobi, which was a hit in Japan in 2005, is the story of two rival warrior clans thrown even deeper into combat from members from each side fall in love.

But far from planning a straight remake, the studio has hired director Max Makowski to move the setting to Hong Kong, and adding in the extra spice of a 160-year-old feud between multinational security forces to the tale of throwing-star-crossed lovers.

There’s no script yet, but Universal hopes Makowski can crank one out and get shooting next year.