Keanu Reeves is about to lend his voice to the title position of Hidari, a Japanese stop-motion motion function in growth from director Masashi Kawamura, the venture’s producers introduced Sunday in Cannes.
The function is an growth of Kawamura’s viral 2023 proof-of-concept in need of the identical identify, which has racked up shut to five million views on YouTube since its launch. Loosely impressed by the legend of Jingoro Hidari, a near-mythic grasp carpenter from Japan’s Edo interval, the movie follows the artisan as he loses his father determine, his fiancée and his proper arm to a betrayal tied to the key reconstruction of Edo Fortress — then channels his grief into vengeance, wielding a collection of mechanical prosthetic arms of his personal design alongside his loyal animated wood companion, the Sleeping Cat. Kawamura has additionally written the screenplay.
“I’m thrilled by the vision behind Hidari,” Reeves mentioned in a press release. “From the proof of concept to the developed script, the team has created something truly extraordinary. It has all the makings of an exceptional film — one I’m excited to see and eager to be part of. I believe this project has the potential to bring something very special to audiences worldwide.”
Reeves has beforehand voiced Duke Caboom in Pixar’s Toy Story 4 (2019) and Shadow the Hedgehog in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024), and narrated and produced beneath his personal BRZRKR comic-book and Netflix banner.
Kawamura is a Tokyo-based director and artistic greatest recognized internationally for genre-fluid, design-driven work spanning commercials, music movies, tv and large-scale public installations. He earned a Cristal on the Annecy International Animation Movie Competition, an Worldwide Emmy nomination, and prime honors on the One Present and Clio Awards; he additionally designed the most important pavilion finally yr’s Osaka World Expo and created the dancing clones for a few of Girl Gaga’s stage work.
Hidari is produced by Noriko Matsumoto, head of Japanese animation home Dwarf Studios, which partnered with Netflix on the Rilakkuma collection — and whose current quick Bottle George was shortlisted for the 2025 Academy Awards. The function is a co-production between Dwarf Studios, Tokyo inventive company No matter and animation home TECARAT. Financing comes from Questry Co.’s Tomonobu Ibe, a veteran of Japanese entertainment-content finance.
“I’m super excited to be collaborating with Keanu,” Kawamura mentioned in a press release. “When someone with his experience and creative vision watches your proof of concept and says, ‘I want to be part of this,’ it’s an incredible feeling. He’s not just lending his voice to Hidari — he’s helping us shape and expand this world, and I can’t wait to see where we take it together.”
A launch date has not but been set. Reeves is represented by WME.
