Opening this weekend in limited release is Keanu Reeves’ directorial debut Man of Tai Chi.  Set it modern day China, the pic follows the journey of a young martial artist (Tiger Hu Chen) whose unmatched Tai Chi skills land him in a highly lucrative underworld fight club run by an unsavory businessman (Reeves) dead set on corrupting him.  Loaded with great fight scenes by the legendary Yuen Woo-Ping, Reeves' directorial debut is a winner and I'm looking forward to what he does next.  For more on the film, read Matt's review or watch the trailer here.

At this year's Toronto International Film Festival I landed an exclusive video interview with Reeves.  While I thought about posting it sooner, I wanted to wait until his film was going to be in theaters.  During the interview he talked about how the project came together, what it was like to make a movie in China where the government has script control, his thoughts on directing again, deleted scenes, what he collects, 47 Ronin, Passengers, whether he'll ever attend Point Break Live, what he's looking to do in the future, and more.  Hit the jump to watch.

Finally, Man of Tai Chi is now available on iTunes and VOD.  It's definitely worth checking out.

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Image via Universal

Keanu Reeves Time Index:

  • It’s a great honor to bring his directorial debut to TIFF, especially since he grew up in Toronto.
  • 0:50 – Explains the project came together and how he got it financed.
  • 2:50 – There is a government organization that reviews scripts for approval when you make a film in China.  The movie was originally set in Beijing, but he couldn’t have underground fighting and a corrupt cop in Beijing so he moved it to Hong Kong.
  • 5:40 – Their contract says every country will see the same cut.
  • 6:50 – He would love to direct again.
  • 7:30 – Philosophy about what it means to collect---Reeves has about five typewriters.
  • 9:05 – Hasn’t seen Point Break Live, but he’s intrigued.
  • 9:50 – He’s seen rough cut versions of 47 Ronin---praises the design.
  • 10:55 – There is a financier and director in place for Passengers, so they’re trying to move forward in development.  Reeves describes the plot.
  • 12:35 – Pondering where he wants to take his career next.
  • 14:00 – The assembly cut for Man of Tai Chi was 2 hours 30 minutes.  Talks about what they cut.

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