Keanu Reeves samurai action flick 47 Ronin is getting a follow-up – only it’s set in a cyberpunk future and may be missing Reeves himself.
Well, we certainly didn’t see this one coming.
Whilst we all know that Hollywood loves a sequel, the news, via Deadline, that 47 Ronin – the 2013 action film about a powerful group of masterless samurai – is getting a follow-up is somewhat surprising to say the least. The original film suffered a torrid production with first-time director Carl Rinsch eventually being relieved of the film during its post-production stage. He hasn’t made another movie since.
Universal stepped in and completed the movie, but it ultimately fell far short of expectations in a crowded Christmas season, eventually earning around $150 million worldwide against what was believed to have been a $225 million production budget.
In the years since, 47 Ronin, despite possessing some merits worth seeking it out, hasn’t exactly set the secondary market alight either or earned the kind of cult status that sees some movies pick up a healthy half-life on streaming or home formats. Even still, Universal 1440, a production arm of Universal, is co-producing alongside Netflix, and there seems to be a belief that there’s real creative potential in a sequel to the film.
How connected to the original the follow-up will be is unclear, but early information suggests that the movie will be set in a cyberpunk world some 300 years in the future. Samurai and ninjas will still feature in the film, but quite how this strange (and exciting) juxtaposition of feudal-era Japan and dystopian future will come together, is currently unclear.
Keanu Reeves’ involvement is yet to be announced, although we’d argue that the actor isn’t averse to lending his talents to projects in the cyberpunk genre, with The Matrix trilogy, Johnny Mnemonic and his upcoming role in the video game Cyberpunk 2077 suggesting it’s a genre he enjoys.
The film’s director has been announced however, and Ron Yuan, an accomplished actor, stuntman and director, who can next be seen on screen in Disney’s Mulan, is set to helm. We’ve seen successful transitions from stunt direction into film direction before in action movies, the Keanu Reeves-starring John Wick movies being perhaps the best example of recent times. As such, the sheer strangeness of this project along with its early credentials makes us very interested indeed.
More news as we have it.
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