The ‘Matrix’ trilogy had been history for years and no one had dared to dream of ‘John Wick’ – and certainly not of Keanu Reeves himself. A few of his films like “The Lake House” and “The Day the Earth Stillstand” made money at the box office, but they didn’t uproot any trees financially, nor did the critics overwhelm them with praise for them or the mime artist. That is why the Canadian pinned all his hopes on the extensive film adaptation of an ancient Japanese heroic saga in an action format with fantasy elements: “47 Ronin“. It is about a group of disgraced samurai who in 1703 decide to avenge their master who was forced to commit suicide.
At the time, Universal Studios was just as desperate for a hit as Reeves. While the competition regularly earned billions with blockbuster series such as ‘Lord of the Rings’, ‘Star Wars’, ‘Harry Potter’ etc., the Californians have not been able to build a franchise in this direction for a long time. So people were willing to take money into their hands. They wanted to make a film that combined spectacular action with epic fantasy and of course left room for sequels and spin-offs.
A chaotic and extremely expensive production
In late 2008, Universal agreed that “47 Ronin” would bring the studio the success it desired. Keanu Reeves was hired to play the lead role, as were director Carl Rinsch and producer Scott Stuber. Filming was scheduled for 2009 and a theatrical release was announced for late 2010.
After numerous revisions to the script and seemingly endless discussions about visual aspects, it was not until the spring of 2011 that Rinsch was finally able to begin filming. However, what industry insiders already feared was confirmed: entrusting a mega budget of reportedly $175 million to the debutant, who had previously only worked as an advertising filmmaker, was a huge risk.
He was used to arranging every detail of the set of his projects himself – a procedure he insisted on here too and which repeatedly led to enormous delays in the process. All this has eaten up even more money. Producer Stuber, who had previously worked almost exclusively on RomComs and smaller dramas, also seemed simply overwhelmed by a film of this magnitude. Universal is now targeting November 2012 as the new start date.
While the cameras in Hungary, Great Britain and Japan had been rolling for a while, to make matters worse, the studio bosses got involved themselves: they suddenly had a special effects orgy in mind like “300” or “Avatar” . Rinsch, on the other hand, wanted to deliver a much more grounded work in the direction of “Gladiator”. A compromise had to be made. However, it took more time and especially money to find one. In addition, extensive reshoots were planned. According to Universal, “47 Ronin” did not have enough fantasy sequences and action moments. The cinema release has now been postponed again, this time to Christmas 2013.
A box office disaster
When the film finally hit the screens, he was able to impress with his pictures. In terms of story, however, it seemed half-baked and left the audience emotionally cold – read the FILMSTARTS review by editor-in-chief Christoph Petersen. But these weren’t the only reasons why ’47 Ronin’ failed miserably at the box office. Almost no one in the Western world had heard of the original story before. Therefore, there was no built-in fanbase like the ones mentioned, based on best-selling novels or super-successful previous films.
After devouring more than $200 million in production, its chaotic production failed to gross even a measly $10 million in the crucial first weekend after its U.S. release. “47 Ronin” mutated into one of the most monumental flops in film history and the biggest failure of Keanu Reeves’ career.
Luckily for him, he shot the much smaller budgeted “John Wick” soon after, which once again established him as one of the top movie stars in the world. Scott Stuber is now head of the feature film division at streaming giant Netflix. Carl Rinsch, on the other hand, never made another feature film. Ten years after the debacle, a sequel was actually released: “Blade Of The 47 Ronin” – without any of the leading actors being involved in the original in front of or behind the camera…
The historically documented story about the warriors who remained loyal to their master even after his death, was almost simultaneously made into a film a second time under the title “Last Knights – The Knights of the 7th Order” with Clive Owen and Morgan Freeman, among others. However, in a heavily modified scenario – namely as a bloody, dark knight film set in the European Middle Ages.
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