Chushingura, Hollywood Style

[Mark Nornes]

Variety reports a Hollywood remake of Chushingura is in the works.  
Keanu Reeves will star, so a director should fall into place. It's to  
be written by Chris Morgan, whose credits include mostly genre films— 
including Sakura: Blue-eyed Samura, which is in post-production.  
Here's a synopsis from imdb:

Set in Japan in 1866, centers on an American counsel who travels to  
the land of the rising sun where his daughter Sakura, which means  
cherry blossom, is learning the way of the samurai.

You can get a sense for where he's taking the story in the last graph  
below. And from the graph just above that, you can imagine the pitch,  
except the part where they project a new franchise of 46 sequels.

Markus



Keanu Reeves to lead '47 Ronin'
Chris Morgan to write Universal feature
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Keanu Reeves will star in "47 Ronin," an epic period film for  
Universal Pictures based on the true tale of a band of samurai  
swordsmen who avenged the death of their master in 18th century Japan.
.....snip.......

Reeves stars in sci-fi remake "The Day the Earth Stood Still," which  
Fox bows Friday.

In "47 Ronin," he will play one of the swordsmen; the group and their  
master are revered in Japan for their revenge attack on Dec. 14, 1702.

The film will tell a stylized version of the story, mixing fantasy  
elements of the sort seen in "The Lord of the Rings" pics, with gritty  
battle scenes akin to those in films such as "Gladiator."

Morgan is writing the script and tailoring it so that Reeves -- who's  
half-Asian -- can fit the role as one of the swordsmen. The intention  
is to begin shooting next year after a director is hired.

.....snip.....
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