Nearly nine years after a movie adaptation was announced, it now appears that the CrossGen martial arts series Way of the Rat might finally make it to the big screen. The wuxia-influenced comic book series, which was written by Chuck Dixon, lasted for 24 issues before publication was halted when CrossGen’s went bankrupt. Way of the Rat was one of the properties that Disney acquired from the assets of the bankrupt CrossGen. Although Ruse and Sigil have been reborn at Marvel, there is no word yet on whether Marvel/Disney plans to revive Way of the Rat.

 

Back in 2002 Dreamworks initially set up a Way of the Rat adaptation (see “Way of the Rat Film at Dreamworks”) with Chuck Russell directing. Russell was still attached to the project in 2006-2007 when Jet Li and Zhang Ziyi were set to star in Way of the Rat along with Jay Chou (The Green Hornet). 

 

Now China’s Global Times is reporting that production of an $84 million Way of the Rat film will begin shooting later this year for a Christmas release. The film is evidently a Chinese, U.S., and Canadian co-production, but no information was provided concerning the cast or crew of the film. Another film announced in the article is a John Woo-directed Flying Tigers film about the American volunteer fighter pilots who fought alongside the Chinese against the Japanese in World War II. The Flying Tiger movie has a budget of $92 million. 

 

The news concerning Way of the Rat sounds very promising.  Filmmaking costs are much lower in China so these are very ample budgets, and the Chinese are without peer when it comes to creating martial arts movies. The only disturbing factor in the announcement that this long-delayed comic book movie might actually be making it to the screen is the booster-like, propagandistic tone of the state-controlled Global Times.