More Details About Richard Gere’s Hachiko Film: Ken Watanabe to Co-Star?

Back in May, we reported that Richard Gere was going to make a Hollywood adaptation of the famous story of Hachiko. Here are some new details about the film from an article in Pacific Citizen:
In an industry that tends to stamp out ethnicity onscreen and behind the scenes, Wong is co-producing a $15 million feature film called “Hachiko: A Dog’s Story” starring Richard Gere and possibly Ken Watanabe. Filming is slated to begin this fall in Connecticut.
“People seem to identify with Hachiko. He symbolizes so many different things to different people. Hachiko represents innocence, fear, hope, joy, loss and loneliness,” she said.
[...]
“Hachiko: A Dog’s Story,” will be an American adaptation of the famous Japanese true story set in present-day Connecticut. In the film, Hachiko arrives from Japan and is discovered by Parker (Gere, who is also co-producing the film), a university professor.
Like the true story, Hachiko accompanies his master to the train station every day and returns each afternoon to greet him after work. But when Parker passes away, Hachiko faithfully returns to the same spot at the station every day for the next nine years to wait for his beloved master.
[Hat Tip to Josh for letting us know about this news!]


We’ve already seen an American adaptation of that with an episode of Futurama.
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Yep, and it was probably the best adaptation of the story that will ever come out of an American studio. Hollywood stinks and the fact that they are trotting out Watanabe Ken yet again to play token Asian is annoying.
Anyways, that futurama always makes me tear up a bit..
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If he’s going to Americanise it (we all know Americans can’t handle foreign films, unless you go the Quaint and/or Exotic way) then why Hachiko? Why not, say, Greyfriar’s Bobby? Or any other similar tale?
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“Sex sells” is one day going to be replaced by “sex in Japan sells.”
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Dang! You got all the facts wrong! Richard Gere is playing Octavian Wolfe, a 48-year old Manhattan garbage collector who, in order to save Halle Berry’s Harlem microbrewery from bankruptcy, goes on American Idol as aspiring white rapper 8-Dogg! Ken Watanabe plays a Japanese-American street singer and rival suitor who parlays his Esashi Oiwake wailing skills all the way to the finals, where 8-Dogg and Ken go tonsil-a-tonsil to the bitter end! Guess who wins the match, and who gets the girl! Look for the surprise ending!
What would you do without fact-checkers like me? Sheesh…
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