While anime fans have felt that they’ve dodged the bullet when it comes to Keanu Reeves being cast in Akira and the eternally stalled Cowboy Bebop live action films, he’s still got a thing going for Japan. That thing is currently coming together as a planned November 2012 release of 47 Ronin, directed by Carl Erik Rinsch (who has only done a couple of short films). This huge, $170 million budget film from Universal Pictures is filled with an all Japanese cast outside of Reeves who plays the role of Kai, a half-Japanese man who joins a group of samurai that are seeking vengeance. It’s an old tale in Japan that’s been adapted many times since it’s 18th century origins but this is the biggest adaptation yet and one that obviously changes something key when it introduces a half-Japanese character. Still, props go to Reeves and Rinsch for casting as they have for everything else. The film is being shot in a few different locations, with a lot of it happening in Budapest this past March, but also in Japan and on regular sets as well at Shepperton Studios in England.
The plot for the film got summarized a bit officially over at Hero Complex thusly:
The troupe of banished samurai long to restore their honor and find vengeance against the treacherous Lord Kira (played by Asano, who is in theaters now as Hogun in Thor) who was responsible for the death of their master. Kai is the uneasy compatriot in their company and his standing will be questioned even more as he falls in love with Mika (Shibasaki), daughter of the fallen master. The film presents a quest where the ronin (the term for samurai with no master) face trials that test their mettle and their loyalty to one another.
Collider has a bit more on it where it’s talked about how the film is going to be more along the lines of 300 so it’ll be a very visual film. Of particular interest is the language issue, as they talk about how the film is being done first in Japanese and then they do it again in English.
Main cast:
- Keanu Reeves as Kai, an outcast who joins the group of samurai. Reeves’s character is half-Japanese and half-British; the character was created for the film.
- Hiroyuki Sanada as Oishi, leader of the samurai
- Kou Shibasaki as Mika, the slain master’s daughter and Kai’s love
- Tadanobu Asano as Lord Kira, who killed the samurais’ master
- Rinko Kikuchi as Mizuki, a lady who serves Lord Kira
- Jin Akanishi as Chikara Oishi, Oishi’s son
