Ken Watanabe ("The Last Samurai", "Memoirs of a Geisha") will star in Clint Eastwood's "Red Sun, Black Sand," the Japanese companion piece to his Iwo Jima drama "Flags of Our Fathers". Production begins next week in Los Angeles reports Variety.
Steven Spielberg is a producer on both films, which tell the story of the famous WWII battle from each side. DreamWorks and Warner Bros. are partnering on the pics, which will have a staggered release later this year. Eastwood, who is in post with "Flags," will shoot the companion entirely in Japanese.
"Red Sun" revolves around the real-life Japanese General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, played by Watanabe, who battled American troops for 40 days on the small island of Iwo Jima. Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Ryo Kase and Shido Nakamura also star.
Japanese-American scribe Iris Yamashita penned the script, from a story by her and Oscar-winner Paul Haggis, who adapted "Flags." Paramount will release the films domestically, while Warner Bros. International will distribute overseas.
