What's Keanu Reeves up to I hear you ask, well I'll tell you.
The Matrix was undoubtedly Keanu's finest hour so it comes as great news that the one we once called 'the one' is working on not one but two martial arts action epics.
First up is a Hollywood remake of Japanese samurai classic 47 Ronin. Filming is already underway with a reported budget of 170 million dollars and is being shot in 3D as everything seems to be these days. Expect samurai limbs to be flying past your face in cinemas sometime next year.
More surprising is news that Mr Reeves is heading up a film about the chinese martial art Tai-Chi, which is imaginatively titled Man of Tai Chi. It seems he will be investing a lot of time in the project as he will be acting as well as stepping in the director's chair for the first time albeit as co-director. Being that he also produced his last starring film Henry's Crime, this could herald the start of a new career behind the camera for the Point Break star.
Man of Tai Chi is currently still in the pre-production phase but it has been confirmed that Keanu will play a villain. Now for those who have been unfortunate to have seen The Watcher there may well be alarm bells ringing but here's hoping Keanu puts in a better villainous turn this time. On the action side of things, the fight scenes will be choreographed by Tiger Hu Chen, who is a protege of Yuen Woo-Ping who in turn was the fights choreographer on the Matrix films. So the action will no doubt be solid and with an A-lister like Keanu on board it should help the film get a lot of Western exposure for what is in essence a very Chinese martial arts film.
While us at Movie Cake are salivating at the prospect of Bill and Ted 3, it seems Mr Reeves has got his eyes firmly set on Asian audiences at the moment and I for one think that is EXCELLENT.
Chris Curry
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