Would-Be ALIEN 5 Director Carl Rinsch to Instead Count 47 RONIN with Keanu Reeves

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.

According to Heat Vision, Rinsch will take the helm of 47 Ronin, a tale of 18^th samurai who head out to avenge the death of their master.  This is a true story and the most famous tale the samurai code of honor, bushido.  Fictionalized retellings of the legend are known as Chūshingura but that’s not quite as catch for American audiences so 47 Ronin it is.

Keanu Reeves’ name has circled in connection with the leading role which is great because you wouldn’t want someone of Japanese ancestry to actually play a samurai (Reeves’ mother is English while his father was Chinese-American).  The script will be handled by Chris Morgan who also wrote Fast & Furious and Wanted.  I think you can see what they’re going for with this project.  Still, Rinsch is a guy with something to prove and should 47 Ronin reach theaters, we’ll discover if Fox made the right decision in denying Rinsch his chance at the Alien franchise.