{"id":648673,"date":"2026-05-17T14:09:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T14:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/648673\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T14:09:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T14:09:09","slug":"keanu-reeves-to-voice-lead-in-stop-motion-samurai-feature-hidari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/648673\/","title":{"rendered":"Keanu Reeves to Voice Lead in Stop-Motion Samurai Feature Hidari"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tKeanu Reeves<\/a> is getting into samurai mode. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe actor is set to voice the lead in \u201cHidari,\u201d the stop-motion feature from Masashi Kawamura that he\u2019s expanded from his viral proof-of-concept short film. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe action-packed feature takes inspiration from accounts of the life of legendary Edo era craftsman Jingoro Hidari, who will be voiced by Reeves.<\/p>\n

\n\tBetrayed by those desperate to bury the secrets of Edo Castle\u2019s reconstruction, Jingoro loses everything. His father figure, fianc\u00e9e, and even his right arm. On the brink of despair, the legendary craftsman transforms his grief into an unyielding drive for vengeance. Armed with his extraordinary carpentry skills and a series of lethal mechanical prosthetic arms, Jingoro carves his own path to justice. With his loyal companion, the \u201cSleeping Cat,\u201d he faces his enemies in a gripping tale of revenge and self discovery.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m thrilled by the vision behind \u2018Hidari,’\u201d said Reeves. \u201cFrom the proof of concept to the developed script, the team has created something truly extraordinary. It has all the makings of an exceptional film\u2014one I\u2019m excited to see and eager to be part of. I believe this project has the potential to bring something very special to audiences worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAdded Kawamura: \u201cI\u2019m super excited to be collaborating with Keanu. When someone with his experience and creative vision watches your proof of concept and says \u2018I want to be part of this,\u2019 it\u2019s an incredible feeling. He\u2019s not just lending his voice to Hidari, he\u2019s helping us shape and expand this world, and I can\u2019t wait to see where we take it together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHidari\u201d film is produced by Noriko Matsumoto. Matsumoto has helped positioning dwarf studios as one of the first in Japan to collaborate with global streamers, with its Netflix series \u201cRilakkuma\u201d gaining widespread attention and popularity. Her latest project, the short film \u201cBottle George,\u201d was shortlisted at the 2025 Oscars.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe original short film has garnered almost 5 million views on YouTube since it was published in 2023.<\/p>\n

\n\tKawamura\u2019s resume includes commercials, music videos, and television shows alongside creating clones for Lady Gaga and designing the largest pavilion at Osaka Expo 2025. His projects have earned global recognition, including a Cristal at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, an International Emmy Award nomination, and top honors at One Show, Clio, and more.<\/p>\n

\n\tReeves is represented by WME.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keanu Reeves is getting into samurai mode. The actor is set to voice the lead in \u201cHidari,\u201d the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,88,10490],"class_list":["post-648673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-keanu-reeves"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}