'Hidari': Keanu Reeves' stop-motion samurai film seeks new backer
Talks with a US company have stalled. The producer explained at the Busan film market why the Japanese studio is holding on to its rights.
Archive image · Photo: Microsoft Corporation / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
The Japanese stop-motion samurai film 'Hidari,' which has Keanu Reeves attached as a voice actor, is looking for a new financing partner. Producer Matsumoto Noriko said so at the Asian Contents & Film Market, held alongside the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea. Kawamura Masashi directs; the film is being developed by Dwarf Studios together with Whatever and Tecarat.
According to Matsumoto, a US company offered to cover the entire production budget in exchange for all rights. Dwarf Studios, however, wanted to keep half of the rights. The talks stalled after the executives the studio had been dealing with lost their jobs amid the upheaval in Hollywood.
A pilot short released in 2023, partly crowdfunded, helped bring Reeves on board. Meanwhile, Ibe Tomonobu, CEO of the company Questry, has set up a special-purpose company through which Japanese and overseas investors can take part. Dwarf Studios says it will keep looking for partners while retaining control of the project.