Keanu Reeves Joins Stop-Motion Samurai Film “Hidari”

In June 2026, at the Annecy Animation Showcase, director Masashi Kawamura unveiled “Hidari,” a samurai-action film built with hand-crafted wooden puppets. The plot follows a young master carpenter who, after losing his mentor, fiancée and right arm, creates a prosthetic weapon and confronts mechanical soldiers and a city-destroying robot. Keanu Reeves confirmed his participation via a video message.

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The title references Hidari Jingoro, a 17th-century Japanese carpenter. Kawamura likened Jingoro’s ability to “breathe life into wood” to stop-motion animation and coined “Wood Punk” to describe a visual style that foregrounds grain, chisel marks and the materiality of each frame.

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The project is led by director Masashi Kawamura and produced by Noriko Matsumoto of Nori Inc. After a Hollywood offer fell through, the team partnered with Questry. Reeves’ role blends his screen persona with legendary actor Toshiro Mifune.

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A YouTube teaser has amassed 5 million views, indicating strong early interest among anime and stop-motion fans.

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By marrying handcrafted stop-motion with a samurai narrative, the film challenges the perception of the technique as niche or nostalgic. It also counters AI-generated content, emphasizing craftsmanship in an era of rapid digital automation.

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Kawamura stressed that every frame is hand-crafted to preserve material authenticity and overturn the view of stop-motion as merely nostalgic. Reeves called the script “extraordinary” and expressed eagerness to join a “very special” project. Matsumoto noted the character blends Reeves and Mifune and called the Questry partnership a “dream come true.”

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• “I think that the stop-motion and what they’ve done, their hope and ambition is very cinematic. It can be both big scale and very intimate, and with the script they have developed, I think it’s extraordinary. I want to see that movie and I want to be in that movie,” — Keanu Reeves, Actor

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• “Imagine ‘John Wick’ set in feudal Japan and performed by wooden puppets on steroids.” — Masashi Kawamura, Director

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• “The question we often get is: ‘Why are you doing this in stop-motion?’ Because we fucking love it! It’s a fabulous technique, but unfortunately it’s considered to be something maybe more nostalgic for a smaller audience. We, as a team, really wanted to shatter that perception and create something very different.” — Masashi Kawamura, Director

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• “We have received an offer, but then the landscape at the studio shifted dramatically and suddenly the project could no longer move forward,” — Noriko Matsumoto, Producer

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The team will continue hand-crafting each frame while seeking distribution channels to showcase the “Wood Punk” world. Updates are expected as production progresses.

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