MGM’s Making A Movie About History’s Only African Samurai

So, here's an awesome piece of news: according to Deadline, MGM is moving forward with a new action film called Yasuke, based on the true life story of history's only African samurai. Set in feudal Japan, the project's being spearheaded by Lloyd Braun and Andrew Mittman, with a script written by Stuart C. Paul. As of this writing, there's no telling who might direct or star in the film.

But just check out this synopsis:

"A native of Portuguese Mozambique, Yasuke was taken captive and brought to 16th-century Japan as a slave to Jesuit missionaries. The first black man to set foot on Japanese soil, Yasuke’s arrival arouses the interest of Oda Nobunaga, a ruthless warlord seeking to unite the fractured country under his banner. The script focuses on the complex relationship between the two men as Yasuke earns Nobunaga’s friendship, respect–and ultimately, the honor, swords and title of samurai."

Now that sounds like a helluva story.

There's literally nothing else to go on here at the moment, which means it is our job to recklessly fan-cast the entire production. Who are you picturing as Yasuke (author's choice: Lakeith Stanfield or GTFO)? Who would you like to see helm this project (can we just take five seconds to imagine how incredible a Spike Lee samurai movie would be)? Anyone read the book I've Amazon-linked to at the bottom of this page? Worth a read, or should we wait for the movie? 

Sound off in the comments below, and stay tuned for more on Yasuke as further updates roll in. We're gonna be keeping a close eye on this one.