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Keanu Reeves Talks About Samurai Flick '47 Ronin's' Western Story

by Alex Billington
April 5, 2011
Source: MTV

There's a project in the works that I'm very excited about called 47 Ronin, a stylistic samurai western of sorts. It is the feature debut of commercials/shorts director Carl Erik Rinsch, who also directed The Gift. Starring is Keanu Reeves, along with a fantastic Japanese cast including Rinko Kikuchi, Hiroyuki Sanada, Kou Shibasaki and Tadanobu Asano. Reeves spoke with MTV recently about the project, which he's in the middle of shooting ("I just finished a sword fight a couple of weeks ago with a great actor named Hiroyuki Sanada - he's fantastic"). It's in 3D, but it actually sounds pretty cool. Read on for more quotes from Reeves!

We've embedded the full video with Reeves below if you wish to watch, as I think that's his samurai hair style in the movie. We already know what 47 Ronin is about, but Reeves puts his own twist on explaining it.

"It's in 3D, it's a kind of western, I call it a story of revenge and impossible love... The samurai become outcast and decide to enact revenge on the person who is responsible for the death of their lord."

"I play an outsider, a kind of half-breed, with a mysterious past... named Kai - who's in love with the princess, and she's in love with me. But we can't be together... But during the course of events, during this journey of revenge, things change."

That sounds pretty cool, and I've got a feeling Rinsch is going to make it badass. Here's what the original synopsis adds: Keanu Reeves leads the cast as Kai, an outcast who joins Oishi, the leader of the 47 Ronin. Together they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind. To restore honor to their homeland, they embark upon a quest that challenges them with a series of trials that would destroy ordinary warriors. The movie has been described previously by screenwriter Chris Morgan (Wanted) "great, Gladiator-esque, 300-like big action movie with samurai and ninja." Awesome!

At the moment, Universal has 47 Ronin scheduled for release on November 21st, 2012, which is a very long time from now. But this is one project that we're always keeping eye on, so stay tuned for any updates!

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