47 Ronin was always a strange, ambitious concept. The movie, based on the famous Japanese legend, was being made by American studio Universal with an almost all-Japanese cast, except for Keanu Reeves, who plays the lead. And the legend itself isn't the stuff of mainstream blockbusters - the ending has the titular ronin committing suicide.
Universal's vision was a big, FX-heavy fantasy-inflected version. Their choice for director was Carl Rinsch, a commercials director who had not proven himself on any sort of serious project. Things quickly got out of hand, there were reports of massive budget overages (current reports say the movie costs $225 million, a $50 inflation on the original budget), and there were major reshoots. The film was bumped back almost a year.
Now things are getting serious. According to The Wrap Universal has kicked Rinsch off the picture and has taken control of the editing room. This can't bode well for the movie.
Slashfilm is reporting that the Wrap is getting it wrong; Slashfilm's source is almost certainly Rinsch himself or someone in his camp, seeking to minimize damage. There's no way to tell what the true story is behind the situation but I can tell you that having been on set I am not in the least bit surprised that there are major problems with the movie. The spirit behind the movie seems admirable, but it's unclear that anybody knew what they were getting into.
The big question for me is whether this means the ending will change. The suicide of the ronin is the whole point of the story, so to change that would be like ending a movie about the Passion with Christ getting away.
Rinsh will be fine, I'm sure, but he might end up being another example of Hollywood not understanding that storytelling is as vital a component of directing as putting together flashy visuals.
About the Author: A ten year veteran of writing for the web, Devin has built a reputation as a loud, uncompromising and honest voice – sometimes to the chagrin of his readers, but usually to their delight.
