Universal sets Lucifer’s Aimee Garcia & AJ Mendez to pen 47 Ronin sequel
As she gears up for the debut of some of the final episodes of the hit supernatural police procedural, Lucifer vet Aimee Garcia has found her next project as she is teaming up with New York Times Bestselling author AJ Mendez and Universal 1440 Entertainment to pen the script for the studio’s 47 Ronin sequel, according to Deadline.
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“AJ and I are excited to write a diverse and inclusive action film,” Garcia said in a statement. “Director Ron Yuan’s vision to blend martial arts, horror, cyber-punk and action was inspiring and we’d like to thank the team at 1440 for being so supportive.”
“As creators of color, we’re honored to be part of a modern, multicultural story with powerful female leads,” Mendez added in a statement.
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The film, which was first announced to be in development in August 2020, will be set 300 years in the future in an exotic cyberpunk world and will offer a re-imagining on both the original 2013 film and its loose source material Chūshingura, with sources reporting the film will incorporate horror elements alongside its modern samurai and ninja elements. The fantasy action-thriller is being directed by Ron Yuan, who most recently starred in Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan.
The follow-up to the Keanu Reeves-led film is being produced by John Orlando, Share Stallings and Tim Kwowk, with Universal 1440 Entertainment attached to produce for the original studio and Netflix set to distribute the film. The filmmakers are currently eying an early 2021 production start date for the project.
Garcia and Mendez recently launched their own productions label, Scrappy Hearts Production, which is dedicated to create diverse stories with universal themes across all media, one of which is currently working to adapt Mendez’s bestselling memoir Crazy Is My Superpower and recently co-authored the comic book series GLOW based on the Netflix series, Dungeons and Dragonsfor IDW Publishing and Wonder Woman at DC Comics slated for a July release.
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47 Ronin was written by Chris Morgan (Fast & Furious franchise) and Hossein Amini (The Snowman) on a story from Morgan and Walter Hamada (The Batman) and directed by Carl Rinsch in his debut and featured a cast including Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada (Mortal Kombat), Tadanobu Asano (Mortal Kombat), Rinko Kikuchi (Pacific Rim) and Ko Shibasaki (One Missed Call). Loosely based on the fictionalized accounts of the titular group, the story centered on the 47 rōnin in 18th century Japan as they set out to avenge the death of their master.
The film was a notorious flop for Universal Studios, being panned by critics and audiences alike and only grossing $151 million at the global box office on its $175 million budget, being considered one of the biggest box office flops in history and leaving the studio in the red for 2013.
(Photo Credits: Getty Images)