Miramax gets Mike Nichols and David Mamet

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Posted: Tue., Oct. 28, 2008, 9:00pm PT

Nichols 'High' on Kurosawa remake

Mamet to write, Rudin to produce Miramax film

Nichols

By Anne Thompson
Variety

Mike Nichols is set to direct a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s "High and Low" for Miramax Films.

Written by David Mamet and produced by Scott Rudin, the film hasn’t started casting. Martin Scorsese originally commissioned Mamet to write the screenplay back in 1999; it took two years for Rudin to pull the rights together. Scorsese likely will executive produce.

Kurosawa’s 1963 detective thriller starring Toshiro Mifune was based on the Ed McBain novel "King’s Ransom," about a businessman who is ruined when he honorably pays ransom to kidnappers who mistakenly nabbed his driver’s son.

Several Kurosawa films have been remade by Hollywood, most notably "The Seven Samurai" ("The Magnificent Seven") and "Rashomon" ("The Outrage"). Steven Spielberg is developing a remake of "Ikiru" at DreamWorks, possibly to direct. And the Weinstein Co. has been developing another "Seven Samurai" remake.

Nichols’ last film was "Charlie Wilson’s War." starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, earned an Oscar nomination for supporting actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. Rudin exec produced Nichols’ 2004 release "Closer," starring Roberts and Clive Owen, based on Patrick Marber’s play, and produced the helmer’s "Regarding Henry," starring Harrison Ford, in 1991.

Nichols 'High' on Kurosawa remake - Entertainment News, Film News, Media - Variety