Stop-motion samurai film with Keanu Reeves seeks new production partner

Dwarf Studios is looking for a new partner to help make "Hidari," a stop-motion samurai film with Keanu Reeves as a voice actor. Talks with a U.S. company broke down after the company's negotiating team lost their jobs during a difficult period in Hollywood. The breakdown happened at the Busan International Film Festival in November.

Reeves voices Jingoro, a carpenter from Japan's Edo period who loses his father figure, his fiancée, and his right arm because of betrayal. He then seeks revenge using mechanical prosthetic arms. Director Masashi Kawamura based the film on an earlier short film he made. A finance company called Questry has already provided some funding. The studio is now searching for financiers, distributors, and co-production partners.