There are a number of aspects to this story that I find fascinating and fairly unbelievable. The first is that a sequel to the 2013 Keanu Reeves samurai flick 47 Ronin is happening at all. I quite enjoyed it, but the movie was a flop. The second is that it will be co-written by former WWE Women’s Champion now best-selling author AJ Mendez aka AJ Lee.
Damn.
Deadline reports the 47 Ronin sequel will be co-written by Mendez along with Lucifer actress Aimee Garcia. The two are also currently writers on the GLOW comic book series, based on the Netflix wrestling series. Behind the camera will be Mulan actor Ron Yuan, having previously directed Step Up: Year of the Dance, and international action flick Unspoken: Diary of an Assassin.
47 Ronin was previously directed by Carl Rinsch and was a fantastical, epic retelling of the real-life 18th-century samurai who set out to avenge the murder of their master by a brutal shogun. The film starred Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Rinko Kikuchi. Box office wasn’t pretty, as it managed to earn just $151M against a budget north of $200M.
Mendez is also the wife of one of my all-time favorite wrestlers, Phil Brooks aka CM Punk. His career has turned towards acting and I’m hoping there’s a way to get him into this, even in a small role. Fingers crossed.
