47Ronin Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Carl Rinsch to Direct Keanu in the Samurai Film '47 Ronin'
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Casting », Universal »
Carl Rinsch is a name perhaps best known to those in the advertisement world, but the commercial director has been poised to break into the feature film world for some time now. His name had been attached to direct Fox's reboot/prequel to Ridley Scott's Alien, until it became apparent that Scott wanted to direct as well as produce. All is not lost, however, as now Rinsch has been tapped to turn Keanu Reeves into a Samurai in 47 Ronin.The project is being set up at Universal with a script from Chris Morgan, who has been earning the studio hand over fist lately with his scripts for the last two Fast & Furious movies as well as Wanted. Currently the immortal Keanu Reeves is the only actor attached to the project, meaning he's most likely to command the presumably effects-heavy film, something Reeves hasn't really done since 2005's Constantine. It's unclear precisely who he'll be playing in the story, but The Hollywood Reporter explains the script "centers on a group of 18th century samurai who set out to avenge the death of their master."
Aside from the above, details are rather vague, as always, in these early stages, but in my experience, samurai make everything better, so news on 47 Ronin is worth keeping an eye out for on their focal inclusion alone. Plus, it's nice to see Rinsch have a firm project to be attached to. You may not recognize his name, but you've probably seen a few of his commercials. His most visible job was probably creating the robotic Heineken keg commercial, but his most impressive is a brilliant Evolution of Technology spot. Check them both out below (plus another of his); and believe me, you'll want to see the Evolution of Tech one, it's a stunner.
Keanu Reeves is a Samurai
Filed under: Action », Casting », Deals », Universal »
Do you want to see a visitor from another planet wielding a sword? Keanu Reeves, who plays the alien Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still (opening on Friday), will play a samurai swordsman in 47 Ronin, an epic action tale of 18th century vengeance, according to Variety.
Described as mixing elements of The Lord of the Rings (fantasy) and Gladiator ("gritty battle scenes"), the film aims to tell a stylized version of a true story that took place at the beginning of the 18th century in Japan. A group of samurai became ronin (samurai without lord or master) after their master was forced to commit ritual suicide because, after repeated insults to his honor, he assaulted a court official. The 47 ronin eventually avenged the death of their master, even though they knew that they, in turn, would be required to commit suicide. Traditionally, the tale of the 47 ronin has been held up as an example of honor and other noble qualities. The story itself has been told numerous times in movies and television, and it's also served as loose inspiration for many other projects, such as John Frankenheimer's terrific Ronin (1998), with Robert DeNiro.
Keanu's 47 Ronin is being scripted by Chris Morgan, who co-wrote Wanted. Morgan is also the writer of the upcoming Fast & Furious and previously did The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and Sakura: Blue-Eyed Samurai, about a 19th century woman training to be a samurai, so he has a track record of projects set in Japan, for whatever that's worth. 47 Ronin intends to start production next year, but a director must be selected first. Whoever else comes on board, this is being pitched as a very, very loose interpretation of the classic tale.
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