Almost four years after the film went into production, The Raid director Gareth Evans’ action thriller Havoc was finally released through the Netflix streaming service back in April, where it had a strong debut and even earned praise from Quentin Tarantino. Evans recently let us know that he has a new idea for the long-awaited The Raid 3 – but it doesn’t look like that’s going to be his next project. According to industry scooper Jeff Sneider of The InSneider, Evans is now set to direct a remake of the 1967 Japanese film A Colt Is My Passport – and if you’ve been paying attention to Evans’ social media in recent years, it might not be too surprising to hear that he’s interested in making a new version of that movie.
Evans has been open about the fact that he first became aware of the existence of A Colt Is My Passport in 2013, but wasn’t able to find a copy until he saw it on the Criterion Channel during the pandemic lockdowns. He instantly became a huge fan and went on to celebrate receiving the film’s poster as a gift in September of 2022 and to introduce a screening of the film at at the 2023 L’Etrange Festival. The rumor that he was gearing up for a remake has been bouncing around for at least a year, and now it seems to be more than just a rumor.
Directed by Takashi Nomura from a screenplay by Shūichi Nagahara and Nobuo Yamada that was based on the novel Tobosha by Shinji Fujihara, A Colt Is My Passport is a yakuza noir that shows us what happens when a gang lord hires Kamimura, a hit man, to take out a rival boss who’s gotten greedy. Joe Shishido and Jerry Fujio star in the film, which drew inspiration from French New Wave movies and Sergio Leone-style westerns.
For the L’Etrange Festival, Evans wrote, “I’m beyond excited to be able to present Takashi Nomura’s A Colt Is My Passport, a criminally underseen 60s Hitman / Yakuza thriller starring the effortlessly cool Jô Shishido as the eponymous hitman, Shûji. During the pandemic, I started seeking out the films that, for some reason or another, had escaped me. I’ve always had an affinity for Japanese cinema so back in 2013 when I first became aware of A Colt Is My Passport (during a meeting with Shinjiro Nishimura at Nikkatsu) I knew immediately that this film with it’s undeniably cool title was one I had to see. Problem being, I couldn’t find it anywhere. Fast forward to the pandemic. Scrolling through the Criterion Channel and there’s Patton Oswalt enthusiastically introducing the film I’d heard so much about. I clicked on it immediately. And 80 minutes or so later, I’d fallen in love with it. A lean, mean pulpy thriller – it wasn’t necessarily the story that did it for me – it was the pure style and swagger of the filmmaking on display. Shigeyoshi Mine’s cinematography is just stunning, composition and lighting is way ahead of the curve for a film at this budget level. And with a game cast playing into this fusion of genres Nomura has created a gorgeous looking noir that has echoes of American crime pictures but also fascinatingly draws inspiration from Leone’s spaghetti westerns in equal measure. Trust me, you’ll be whistling the score by Harumi Ibe on the drive home and replaying the ferocious energy of its closing moments for days after. The finale in particular is straight out of the Leone playbook, Jô Shishido might as well be wearing a duster as he faces impossible odds in the most desolate of locales before being immortalized by that final iconic shot. It’s one for the ages and I couldn’t be more excited to share, and possibly introduce this wonderful film to you all.“
Evans will be making the remake for Amazon MGM’s Orion Pictures label, with Orion president Alana Mayo overseeing the project.
Have you seen A Colt Is My Passport? What do you think of Gareth Evans directing a remake of the film? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
