2013’s “47 Ronin” arrived in theaters, just as Keanu Reeves was re-entering mainstream attention, with the movie telling a fictionalized version of the true tale of the famed forty-seven ronin in feudal Japan. The movie sadly failed to break out on its holiday season debut, but the story is set to continue with the movie’s upcoming Netflix sequel. Directed by Ron Yuan, the “47 Ronin” sequel, ICYMI, just wrapped up in Budapest, with a cast that includes Anna Akana, Mark Dacascos, Dustin Nguyen, Mike Moh, and Yoshi Sudarso.
Per the report in Variety, the sequel will be titled “Blade of the 47 Ronin”, and will be taken even further with sci-fi and cyberpunk elements, with the movie being set 300 years after the first, and involve a conflict in Budapest between five different samurai factions.
The sequel is also being produced by Universal 1440 Entertainment with Netflix to be its platform of distribution. Clearly, martial arts fans will certainly be excited about the inclusion of many martial arts masters along with Ron Yuan of “The Paper Tigers“, who’s also directed many other martial arts films.
Ron spoke of what viewers can expect from the “47 Ronin” sequel in an interview with Deadline, saying that; “I’m incredibly excited to be working with Universal and the producing team on this genre-blending, martial arts, action, horror and cyber-punk film“. Clearly, the modern setting and new elements will bring a completely different feel to the “Blade of the 47 Ronin”. Still, holding onto its more fantastical side and placing samurai in the modern world will enable it to build on the epic samurai adventure that the original had striven to do.
While “47 Ronin” came and went without much of an impact on its initial release, it took audiences on a fun popcorn ride. Furthermore, one has to assume that the pitch for the “Blade of the 47 Ronin” sequel had to have been a highly compelling one to continue on its engaging, but nevertheless underperforming predecessor. Naturally, as mentioned above, with the talent on board, the “Blade of the 47 Ronin” is definitely one for martial arts and action movie fans to mark their calendars for!
