Quoting an unnamed source, The Wrap states that acclaimed commercials director Rinsch - who is making his feature film debut with 47 Ronin - "struggled to control the filmmaking process" and has "buckled under the pressure of the ambitious shoot", not to mention marginalizing Keanu Reeves' character, Kai, who was not even present in the film's climactic battle sequence.
This led to a round of reshoots earlier this month with the purpose of increasing Reeves' presence in the film's action scenes. These were overseen by Rinsch, due to regulations from the Director's Guild of America preventing him being fired from the project, although Universal co-chairperson Donna Langley now said to be overseeing the editing process.
The film sees Reeves' Kai joining Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada), the leader of the legendary saumrai warriors the 47 Ronin, to seek vengeance on the treacherous warlord who killed their master and banished the group. The film is due for release on Christmas Day 2013 in the States, with a UK date yet to be announced.
