So why wasn’t The Ninja the first, and biggest, ninja movie?Īfter a long process too tortuous to go into here, which included two high-profile directors and three screenwriters, the project was shelved when a new head of production was hired at 20th and put into turnaround all the projects the former head of production had green-lighted. The Ninja is the biggest ‘what-if?’ or ‘never-was’ or ‘if-only’ of the era. Much of it was lifted for low-budget movies like Revenge of the Ninja, while at the same time a host of A-list talent and Hollywood legends-in-the-making couldn’t manage to sustain its film development with a much bigger studio deal. It was easily the biggest mass media property of the 1980s ninja boom, yet somehow never saw adaptation outside of print. 20+ weeks on The New York Times‘ Best Seller list, millions of copies in print, five sequels and enduring publication on all modern electronic platforms… Eric Van Lustbader‘s vanguard novel The Ninja turns 36 years old this month.
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