New Line Cinema has acquired Cartoon Network's animated series SAMURAI JACK, to be adapted into a live-action feature film directed by Brett Ratner, director of the RUSH HOUR films. SAMURAI JACK tells the story of a great warrior displaced to the distant future by the evil shape-shifting wizard Aku. The world has become a bleak place under Aku's rule, segregated into fantastic tribes and policed by Aku's evil robot warlords. Samurai Jack travels this foreign landscape searching for the time portal that can return him to his home. The series is the latest from Genndy Tartakovsky, creator of the Emmy Award-winning DEXTER'S LABORATORY, who will write the screenplay for the feature film. "I created the show with a cinematic look to it, so it's very exciting to see it actually go to the big screen," Tartakovsky said. "I'm also a big fan of Brett Ratner's films. His sensibilities are completely in line with the feel of SAMURAI JACK."