Alexandre Aja is an interesting director that I haven’t settled an opinion on yet. I didn’t love High Tension, but it undeniably showed he was a person to watch in the horror field, then The Hills Have Eyes remake I thought proved he had the goods, then Mirrors happened… and I didn’t know what to think anymore. I’m hoping to resolve my feelings on Friday with Piranha 3D, which I am so excited to see I’m actually a little embarrassed. I’m hoping it is gonzo brilliance. If so that means I can start getting excited for Aja’s next film…
Cobra – The Space Pirate.
Deadline is reporting that Aja has acquired the film rights from Buichi Terasawa, creator of the Japanese manga, which was turned into an animated series that was apparently quite popular in Europe when Aja was a lad. The gist:
In a future where merchant spaceships and ruthless brigands sail across space, Cobra is a notorious rogue pirate whose refusal to align with the United Galaxies Federation or the Pirates Guild puts him on the business end of a huge bounty. As he tries to keep his identity secret and avoid capture, Cobra teams up with a sexy bounty hunter named Jane, who is out to locate her sisters and decode a treasure map tattooed on their backs. Their goal: to liberate a lost treasure on Mars.
Aja sees the project as his chance to break away from horror and do a big tent-pole film. He says, “For many people there is Star Wars and nothing else, but for me and my writing partner Gregory, there is Star Wars and Cobra. I am so surprised it never crossed the ocean and made the same impact in the U.S., because it is so big everywhere else. There are 60 books, a lot of TV animation and so many adventures, pirates and bad guys that it is perfect to be reinvented into a really cool space opera adventure franchise for a new generation.“
I’d love to hear what our European readers have to say about Cobra. Is it as awesome as Aja says it is? How does it really compare with Star Wars?
12 comments
His writing partner, Gregory. Gregory? Really? It's not even Greg? How many Gregories do you know that don't go by the much less-syllabic Greg? None, that's how many. Except of course for Aja and his writing partner, Gregory. Gregory sounds like the name of a sock puppet. Greg, however, now that's a man's name.
I'm French, and Cobra is indeed cult in France. It really has a James Bond feeling, a cocky hero, sexy girls and a real sense of 'exoticism'. It would be pretty easy to adapt the concept, and Owen Wilson would be great.
One detail: Cobra is an expert marksman thanks to his Psychogun, a laser which replaces his left arm and can be used by thought… I definitely would love to see that, I hope Piranha is good and will be a success
Will he steal this from Dean Koontz, too?
I saw High Tension in the theater and was engrossed by it..up until the last few minutes of the movie. At that point, I wanted to find Aja and beat him senseless for ruining what had been a great theatrical experience up until that point.
re: poster #4.
Dean Koontz shouldn't bitch about anyone stealing anything from his hack ass, because he's never had an original idea in his entire worthless life.
I'm all for this, I love those books.
I might just need to do some research– I see the series is available from Amazon.co.uk. Anyone know if the trades are in English?
Also: anyone else think this should be a Cobra Starship vehicle? Nyuck nyuck.
I don't know anything about Cobra, but I'm crossing my fingers for some Diabolik style shenanigans.
Owen Wilson in a space epic?! This guy must be French! WoW. and FUCK NO at that. What's the Dean Koontz reference about??
i am from Venezuela, and let me tell you that this fantasy adventure is off-the-hook! i was an avid watcher of the series, and it has this dark noir feel to it with unsavory characters, and the gun, omg the gun, its inside a prostetic arm that moves like life-like feel to it, but when he takes it out, you better hide cause that blast its gonna knock ya'…it'll be interesting to see how he does with the story and the mythology…i personally didnt know they had comics (thanks mr french)
I do not think a cult phenom in France is anything to base a movie on. It may sell to the beret crowd but the rest of the world enjoys our men masculine and our women B.O. less.
Matthew Sweet's video "Girlfriend" used lots of clips from the Cobra anime, and it was awesome. I'll bet this comes together faster than Keanu's Cowboy Bebop project.
Wow… this news has me floored…
Growing up in the Dominican Republic during the 80's this show was the cooloest ever (cartoon series based on the original manga, translated to Spanish). Slick hero, sexy alien ladies and ultra violent conflicts in the furthest reaches of space. Really awesome characters and stories, I'm so stoked for this!
Comments are shown as archived from the original site; new comments are closed.