According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ken Watanabe is set to star in the Japanese remake of Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-winning Unforgiven.  Yurusarezaru Mono (A Thing That Can’t Be Forgiven) will be directed by Lee Sang-Il (Villain).  Yurusarezaru Mono will also be set in 1880, but in Hokkaido instead of the United States and with the tension between the Japanese and the native Ainu.  American audiences will remember Watanabe from 2010’s Inception.

Hollywood has a long tradition of turning American remakes of Japanese samurai films into successful spaghetti westerns; hardcore fans will remember the famous connection between Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo and Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars remake (it was an illegal remake, which resulted in a lawsuit).  Eastwood starred in Fistful, so everything is now coming full circle.

The Japanese release of the film is set for fall 2013.