Dwarf studios, the staff behind the upcoming stop-motion anime film HIDARI, has announced that Keanu Reeves will star as the movie’s protagonist. Masashi Kawamura will direct the film and Noriko Matsumoto will produce it.
HIDARI adapts a pilot short film from 2023 of the same name. Reportedly, the full feature film will be completed in 2029 and will release in English and Japanese. Keanu Reeves will play the role of Jingoro Hidari. Hidari is a real-life sculptor who, many speculated, lost his right arm in battle, hence his last name. The film is based on these theories. Check out the original HIDARI short film below:
The film’s website describes its story as follows:
The story is set in Japan during the Edo period, where real historical figures and events intertwine with original characters to tell the tale of one man’s revenge. Jingoro, a master craftsman of his time, is drawn into a conspiracy at the reconstruction site of Edo Castle, where he loses his mentor, the woman he loves, and even his own right arm.
Barely surviving the ordeal, Jingoro transforms himself into an instrument of vengeance. In place of his lost arm, he forges a prosthetic weapon. The tools once held in his hand to carve wood are reborn as weapons made to destroy. Accompanied by his companion, the Sleeping Cat, Jingoro sets out on a journey of revenge, only to find himself entangled in an even greater conspiracy.
Power struggles swirl within the shogunate. Mechanical soldiers close in. Edo Castle itself begins to transform. As everything around him threatens to consume him, something within Jingoro also begins to quietly change.
