Baz Luhrmann In Talks to Make a Kung Fu Movie

Can you picture a glitzy, extravagant update of a Western classic? It seems like Baz Luhrmann can.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Luhrmann — the Australian auteur of The Great Gatsby, Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge! — is in talks to direct Kung Fu, a big-screen adaptation of the 1970s martial arts Western series. The show starred David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin monk who travels through the American Old West. The show was cult favorite and also the origin of the oft-repeated phrase “young grasshopper.”

THR also reports that if Luhrmann does sign on, he’d likely do a rewrite on the script, penned by Black Swan writer John McLaughlin, which is currently thought to be set in China, rather than the Old West. There’s no details on what vision Luhrmann would bring to the remake, but considering his past films — which have used 3D, music and fish tanks with varying levels of success — the possibilities are endless.

[THR]