Production on the sequel to the 2013 film 47 Ronin has officially begun, as Universal 1440 Entertainment has just announced today that principal photography has started for the film in Budapest.
Leading the cast is Anna Akana, who has previously starred in Ant-Man and Jupiter's Legacy, and action film veteran Mark Dacascos who has previously been featured in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. The film will take a decidedly modern turn, taking place three hundred or so years after the events of the first film. Director Ron Yuan will tell the story of a modern-day world in which samurai clans now exist in complete secrecy. The film is described as being a fantasy action-adventure and, given the three-hundred-year time-jump, will prove to be quite the departure from the original.
Keanu Reeves, who starred in the original 2013 film, will not reprise his role in the sequel. The original 47 Ronin took place in Medieval-era Japan and told the story of Reeves as an outcast samurai who joins 46 other samurai to defeat a powerful and supernatural enemy. The original film did not do well financially or critically, making the upcoming sequel a bit of a wild card.
However, the new direction might prove to be reinvigorating for the series. As General Manager and Executive Vice President of Universal 1440 Entertainment Glenn Ross said, “We are excited to continue the story of these ancient Japanese samurai warriors with this next chapter of the 47 Ronin film franchise set in modern times.” In addition to being set in modern times, Ross stated that director Ron Yuan will also bring a "vision of diverse and inclusive samurai warriors.”
The all-new 47 Ronin movie is from a script by John Swetnam (Breaking Through, Into the Storm, Step Up All In) and first-time feature film writers Aimee Garcia and A.J. Mendez, and is produced by Tim Kwok (Sway, Super Hybrid, The King of Fighters). No specific release date has yet been set for the sequel, but it will be distributed on non-theatrical platforms sometime in 2022.