Stephen Hunter's The 47th Samurai to be Adapted for Film

Stephen Hunter's fourth "Bob Lee Swagger" mystery, The 47th Samurai, is being adapted for film. It will be the second in the series to be adapted: Point of Impact, which introduced the character, was made into 2007's Shooter.

The storyline here follows Bob Lee Swagger and Philip Yano, who are bound together by a single moment at Iwo Jima, 1945, when their fathers, two brave fighters on opposite sides, met in the bloody and chaotic battle for the island. Only Earl Swagger survived.

More than sixty years later, Yano comes to America to honor the legacy of his heroic father by recovering the sword he used in the battle. His search has led him to Crazy Horse, Idaho, where Bob Lee, ex-marine and Vietnam veteran, has settled into a restless retirement and immediately pledges himself to Yano's quest.

Bob Lee finds the sword and delivers it to Yano in Tokyo. On inspection, they discover that it is not a standard WWII blade, but a legendary shin-shinto katana, an artifact of the nation. It is priceless … but worth killing for. Suddenly Bob is at the center of a series of terrible crimes he barely understands but vows to avenge. And to do so, he throws himself into the world of the samurai, Tokyo's dark, criminal yakuza underworld, and the unwritten rules of Japanese culture.

Robert Kamen (The Fifth Element, Kiss of the Dragon, Taken) will write the adapted screenplay, which is tentatively titled The Sword. No director has been named for the project.

(Related article: The Hollywood Reporter.)