Keanu Reeves And 47 Ronin Cast Recorded In Both English And Japanese

The upcoming film 47 Ronin is in a position to release the mother of all bonus features in the near future – an entirely separately filmed alternate version. What actor Keanu Reeves has revealed this week is the fact that the director of the film, Carl Erik Rinsch, wanted the entire cast of the film to be able to speak their lines in either Japanese or English. He went a step further in asking every actor to perform two separate takes of every scene, in English and in Japanese.

According to Reeves, "If the director wanted to, he could probably release a full Japanese version of the film." This bit was spoken to Kotaku Japan where they've also spoke with Tadanobu Asano, another of the main actors in the film. There it was noted that part of the reason for this double-recording was as a major benefit for those not speaking the lines in their native tongue for the version of the film that'd be released first.

"Doing a scene in [your native tongue], your expression changes and your emotions follow. So by trying once in Japanese and understanding the emotions I felt when saying my lines, I was able to act with my English lines." – Tadanobu Asano

Did Keanu Reeves use the Nebuchadnezzar's head-pins to upload the entire Japanese language set to his brain for filming? Or was it some other magical set of skills that allowed him to attain this feat? Either way, we're looking forward to the alternate version.

This movie will be appearing in the United States on the 25th of December, 2013. It's already debuted in Japan this week – or this past week, however you want to look at it – appearing with less-than-stellar attendance. According to LiveDoor, this monstrous release was made at 753 theaters with some showings bringing in less than 50 viewers. It's quite likely the USA-based release will do a bit better.

VIA: Kotaku