Universal’s 3D samurai tentpole 47 Ronin has had a bit of a troubled road through production and post-production, but if all goes according to plan, we’ll be seeing Keanu Reeeves wielding his sword in theaters this coming December.  In anticipation of the pic, some promo posters have gone online that feature the cast doing their best samurai poses.  Reeves stars as one of the 18th century samurai who seek to avenge their master’s death, lending some starpower to the movie.  I don’t imagine we’ll see a trailer until closer to this summer, but these promo posters offer a nice tease of what’s to come.

Hit the jump to check out the promo posters.  Directed by Carl Rinsch, the film also stars Hiroyuki Sanada, Tadanobu Asano, Kô Shibasaki, and Rinko Kikuchi.  47 Ronin opens in 3D this Christmas. [Update: The images have been removed at the studio's request.  Sorry if you missed them!]

47 Ronin is an intriguing project, in part because Universal plucked Carl Rinsch from relative obscurity to direct the 3D samurai tentpole.  It seems the studio regrets that decision, and wants to heighten the intrigue in all the worst ways a cinephile can imagine.  Rinsch has reportedly been removed from the editing room; Universal co-chairwoman Donna Langley will oversee the final cut.  A source involved with the production said the budget escalated from the planned $175 million to a prohibitive $225 million, although the studio denies that number.  Keanu Reeves stars as one of the 18th century samurai who seek to avenge their master’s death, which lends some star power to the movie.  But the rest of the cast—featuring Hiroyuki Sanada, Tadanobu Asano, Kô Shibasaki, and Rinko Kikuchi—is mostly Japanese.  [Edit: To clarify, I have no problem with the nationality of the other actors. See explanation in the comments.]  Add in the period setting and the lack of built-in brand awareness, and it is surprising Universal trusted an unproven director with so much money in the first place.

But Universal is ready to rectify that.  Find out how after the jump.

Universal certainly has an ambitious film on their hands with the samurai pic 47 Ronin, but it was announced today that they’ve decided to move the pic off of its pre-Thanksgiving release date.  Previously slated to open on November 11th, 47 Ronin will now be released on February 8th, 2013 (per Box Office Mojo).  Directed by Carl Rinsch, the 3D film stars Keanu Reeves and centers on a troupe of banished samurai who long to restore their honor and find vengeance against the treacherous Lord Kira (played by Tadanobu Asano) who was responsible for the death of their master.  We recently brought you a look at a fire-infused promo poster for the film from CinemaCon, which you can check out right here.

The release date change actually makes sense.  The November date had the action-centered film going up against Alfonso Cuaron’s highly anticipated sci-fi pic Gravity, and opening two weeks before The Hobbit and Les Miserables.  In February, 47 Ronin has a showdown with the Nicholas Sparks adaptation Safe Haven.  I don’t really see much cross-pollination happening between the audiences for 47 Ronin and a Nicholas Sparks movie…

CinemaCon gets underway this Monday, but Steve is already in Las Vegas snapping pictures of all the cool promo posters, banners, and standees he can find.  For those unaware, CinemaCon is a convention put on for all the major theater owners in order to get a look at what the studios have to offer for the rest of the year; it’s basically Comic-Con for theater owners.  While walking the floor, Steve found a new promo poster for director Carl Rinsch‘s 47 Ronin.  The pic stars Keanu Reeves and it’s about a troupe of banished samurai long to restore their honor and find vengeance against the treacherous Lord Kira (played by Tadanobu Asano) who was responsible for the death of their master.  We got a look at a different promo poster at the 2011 Licensing International Expo, but this one has 100% more fire and plays up the 3D aspect of the action film.

Hit the jump to check out the promo poster, and be sure to check back over the next few days for all our coverage from CinemaCon 2012.  47 Ronin opens on November 11th in 3D.

UPDATE: Found a better version of the 47 Ronin poster.  It’s been added after the jump.

We’ve received word that Universal plans to shoot and release the upcoming Keanu Reeves action film 47 Ronin in 3D. Director Carl Rinsch, who has previously been attached to the upcoming Alien prequel as well as a Logan’s Run remake, will make his feature film debut on the project. The project officially got a greenlight last month, as well as a release date of November 21, 2012. There’s no word as to whether the entire film will be shot in 3D, or if some of the footage will be filmed in 2D and then post-converted like the upcoming Transformers: The Dark of the Moon.

Based upon a true story, 47 Ronin is the tale of 18^th century samurai who head out to avenge the death of their master. It’s the most famous tale of the samurai code of honor, “bushido.” For a director who has yet to make his feature film debut, Rinsch has been attached to some decidedly high-profile projects, and Reeves’ work on The Matrix trilogy has him well-versed in martial arts (“I know kung-fu”). Needless to say, this flick sounds fairly bad-ass on paper. We’ll find out if Rinsch lives up to his reputation come November 2012.

Screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later) is in negotiations to pen the screenplay for Carl Rinsch’s remake of the 1976 sci-fi film Logan’s Run.  The plot centers on a future where people must die when they reach a certain age.  Anyone who refuses is a “runner” and they’re hunted down by operatives known as “Sandmen”.  Logan is a Sandman who is forced to become a runner.  According to Heat Vision, producers Joel Silver and Akiva Goldsman are looking for the new film to incorporate the expanded world presented in William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson’s 1967 novel.

Garland’s most recent screenplay credit is for Mark Romanek’s upcoming Never Let Me Go.  Rinsch is attached to multiple projects including The Gift, a remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon, and 47 Ronin.

Director Carl Rinsch has been hired to helm the remake of the 1976 sci-fi flick Logan’s Run.  Here’s the brief synopsis of the film per Heat Vision:

The premise sees a future society that demands the death of everyone upon reaching a certain age. Anyone who veers from that destiny is dubbed a “runner” and is hunted by operatives known as Sandmen. Logan is a Sandman who is forced to go on the run.

Rinsch first garnered attention as he was previously attached to helm the prequel to Alien.  He was then replaced by Ridley Scott.  But that defeat was short-lived as he is now attached to a slew of projects.  First, he got on board the feudal Japan flick 47 Ronin.  Then he was hired to direct a remake of Creature From the Black Lagoon.  Rinsch then directed a short film called The Gift that ignited a bidding war for a feature film adaptation.  But Rinsch is only the latest in a long line of Logan’s Run directors.  Hit the jump for more and click here for the interview with producer Joel Silver who provided several updates on the project.

Carl Rinsch’s The Gift, which we showed you earlier today, is attracting attention from multiple studios who want to adapt it into a feature film.  Heat Vision reports that Warner Bros. and Fox are in a bidding war to adapt the property.  HV gives Fox the slight edge because Rinsch directed the short as part of RSA, Ridley Scott’s commercial house, and Scott has a longtime association with Fox.  I wonder if Fox is having second thoughts about giving the Alien prequel to Scott instead of Rinsch when Scott has fifty other projects he could choose from.

For those that haven’t watched the short, I’ve once again included it after the jump.  The best way to describe the film is robot-Jason Bourne meets MacGuffin meets Half-Life 2 in Moscow.

Carl Erik Rinsch recently directed a cool short film recently for the electronics manufacturer Philips as part of Ridley Scott’s RSA team.  For those that need a brief refresher on Rinsch, he was the guy who almost directed the Alien prequel.  Instead, Rinsch is now attached to direct 47 Ronin and a remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon for Universal.

The short film is part of the Parallel Lines project where five of RSA’s hottest up-and-coming directors each had to make a film and the only requirement was that they include the dialogue, “It’s a unicorn.”  This leads me to believe that Philips is building the world’s first unicorn.

Hit the jump to see Rinsch’s sci-fi short, “The Gift” which debuted on /Film.  After you see it, you’ll want to keep him on your radar.

He may have lost his chance to direct the fifth Alien movie, but director Carl Rinsch is doing pretty well for himself. Last month, we told you that Rinsch would be behind the camera on 47 Ronin, the film adaptation of the Japanese Chūshingura legend. Now it looks like Rinsch has lined up an even higher profile film with Hero Complex reporting that Rinsch is in talks to direct the remake of The Creature from the Black Lagoon. The 1954 original involved a scientific expedition encountering a dangerous amphibious humanoid who may or may not be from a darkly colored body of water.

Multiple directors over the past three decades have tried to revive Creature, from John Landis to Peter Jackson to the most recent director to depart, Brick Eisner. Eisner, who recently remade George Romero’s 1973 horror film The Crazies, has now moved on to remake David Cronenberg’s 1979 horror film, The Brood. As for Creature, Universal is going back to square one on the script after recent passes by Eisner and Gary Ross (Seabiscuit). Whether Rinsch will be the one to finally bring the remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon to the big screen remains to be seen, but I suppose he has some extra incentive since he’ll get to show off what he would’ve done in a movie about an otherworldly creature terrorizing humans.

The saga of Carl Rinsch is an interesting one.  Last May, it was reported that Rinsch, a director with no feature films to his name, would be helming the fifth Alien movie, which would be a prequel.  There was some skepticism due to Rinsch’s lack of experience and the responsibility involved in handling such a major franchise, but original director Ridley Scott and brother Tony had Rinsch’s back.  Then Fox played hardball and got Ridley to return to directing the series he launched in 1979.  With that, Mr. Rinsch dropped out of sight…until now.

Rinsch has resurfaced to direct 47 Ronin with Keanu Reeves possibly set to star.  Hit the jump for details and to work with former samurai rather than former chest embryos.

A few months back, we reported that Ridley and Tony Scott were attempting to resurrect (if you’ll excuse the term and forget your enmity towards the fourth film in the series) the “Alien” franchise by bring Carl Rinsch on board to direct a new installment in the franchise. While Tony Scott confirmed that the fifth film would be a prequel, he offered no details on the story.

Hit the jump to find out how it fell apart and how Fox is trying to put it all back together.

A couple weeks ago, we reported that Tony Scott confirmed Carl Rinsch as the director for a new “Alien” movie and that said “Alien” movie would be a prequel as opposed to a full-on reboot.  And there was much rejoicing and chest-bursting.

But today Entertainment Weekly is reporting that according to their sources, Fox will only go ahead with an “Alien” prequel if original director Ridley Scott comes on board.  It’s actually the smart move on Fox’s part because while they could easily bully a freshman director like Rinsch, the “Alien” property has lost so much clout over the years that the only way to re-ignite interest is to put the man who launched the franchise back in charge.  However, if this is a deal-breaker for Fox, it looks like this deal will be broken because Scott already has eighty-bajillion projects on his plate, including an adaptation of the board game, “Monopoly”.

A few days ago, Bloody-Disgusting reported that 20^th century Fox was going to remake “Alien” and director Carl Rinsch would be helming the movie. Immediately fandom exploded with venom. I think one of the main reasons is that the original is a classic, and 20^th Century Fox hasn’t been making films of that caliber recently.

So at today’s junket for Tony Scott’s new film “The Taking of Pelham 123″, I went up Tony after the press conference ended to ask him what was up with the remake.

The big news is he confirmed Carl Rinsch would be directing it and that it’s a prequel to his brother Ridley’s classic!

What Tony told me is after the jump:

Since they’re rebooting “Predator”, it’s not a surprise that a reboot of “Alien” couldn’t be far behind.  Even though I think it’s an over-hated film, “Alien Resurrection” along with the justly-hated “Alien vs. Predator” movies have killed the franchise but with the lovely Xenomorph so iconic (and potentially profitable), Fox is giving it another go, according to Bloody-Disgusting.

Original director Ridley Scott is on board to produce along with brother Tony Scott and Michael Costigan.  They’ve tapped music video director Carl Rinsch to direct and I’m always interested to see fresh talent behind the camera rather than someone whose an established failure (at least artistically; hi, Shawn Levy, Brian Robbins, Tim Story, and Adam Shankman!)  BD also mentions that they’re looking for a new Ripley and I understand that.  Even though she looks good for her age, Sigourney Weaver is almost sixty and while I wouldn’t be opposed to her having a cameo or even a full supporting role, it’s time to let a new young actress take on one of the strongest and well-written female leads in cinema history.

Finally, BD notes that it will just be the one alien stalking the ship as in the original.  I’m not opposed to this but if you’re going to relaunch the series, take us someplace new, namely: the Xenomorph planet.  But perhaps they’re saving that in the event that this relaunch is successful.

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