Universal Pictures removes 47 Ronin Director

Just in case some of you haven’t heard, Universal Pictures recently delayed their Samurai Epic entitled “47 Ronin” for a 2013 release. If you don’t know who or what the 47 Ronin are, it’s a movie based off of a Japanese historical event where 47 Ronin (Masterless Samurai) take vengeance on the death of their Master/Feudal Lord during the 18th Century. Despite the fact this movie has huge actors attached to it like Keanu Reeves and Hiroyuki Sanada, it seems the future is now uncertain for this film. Carl Rinsch, the director of the movie has been pulled from his position after claims that the production costs have swelled beyond $225 Million. That’s almost as much as the blockbuster movie of the summer, “The Avengers” which had a budget at about $260 Million. Universal’s co-chairwoman Donna Langley, has now taken the reigns from Rinsch and is moving forward with the rest of the production. Inside sources from several locations such as redforward.com have stated that the production process has not been going smoothly in addition to it swelling past the initial production amount of $175 Million. This seriously doesn’t sound good for 47 Ronin.

On a side note, I personally, I would love to see this movie come to the big screen. I am a huge fan of Japanese culture, history, and folklore, and I would like to see what Universal has in store for us. I was a huge fan of the film “The Last Samurai” starring Tom Cruise several years back, and that was a really well created and produced film, even though it was completely fictional. Let’s hope our friends at Universal Pictures can get this movie back on track and back to its scheduled release date.

Real gravesite of the 47 Ronin in Sengaku-ji, Japan.