Japanese stars including Rinko Kikuchi join cast of Universal's 47 Ronin

The Last Samurai star Hiroyuki Sanada, The Lady Shogun And Her Men actress Kou Shibasaki, Mongol and Thor actor Tadanobu Asano and Oscar nominated Babel actress Rinko Kikuchi have joined the cast of Universal’s epic 3D fantasy adventure 47 Ronin, alongside Keanu Reeves.

Shooting will begin in Budapest on March 14, before moving to the UK in May where shooting will take place for 10 weeks at Shepperton Studios and on location. The film, which has been written by Chris Morgan and Hossein Amini, is being shot in 3D.

Speaking at a press conference in London on Monday, the film’s director Carl Rinsch revealed that one of the main reasons why the production was shooting in Budapest was because “they have new sound stages which are bigger than anything in the UK. The scope of the film is such that we needed more space. This is bigger than anything you’ve ever seen before.”

He added that he was drawn to the project, which will be the first English-language adaptation of the famous Japanese legend of a band of samurais who set out to avenge the death of their master, because of its worldly appeal.

“What drew me to it were the universal themes. Love, hate, revenge, these are ideas that translate all over the world. This take is so different, it’s about visualising the dream of Japan from a Western view. Instead of it being a historic epic we wanted to turn it into a fantasy.”

Keanu Reeves, who also attended the press conference alongside the four Japanese cast members, said there was “something larger than life in this story. It’s a mystical world, but people will be able to relate to it.”