Keanu Reeves is set to lend his voice for the lead role Haidaria Japanese stop-motion film in development from director Masashi Kawamura, the project’s producers announced Sunday in Cannes.
The feature is an expansion of Kawamura’s viral 2023 proof of concept of the same name, which has garnered nearly 5 million views on YouTube since its release. Loosely inspired by the legend of Genjuro Hidari, a semi-legendary carpenter from Japan’s Edo period, the film follows the craftsman as he loses his father figure, fiancée, and right arm to a betrayal connected to the secret rebuilding of Edo Castle – and then turns his grief into revenge, wielding a series of mechanical prosthetic arms of his own design alongside his faithful animatronic wooden companion, the Sleeping Cat. Kawamura also wrote the script.
“I’m thrilled by the vision behind Haidari“From proof of concept to developed script, the team has created something truly extraordinary,” Reeves said in a statement. It has all the makings of an exceptional film – one I am excited to see and look forward to being a part of. I believe this project has the potential to offer something very special to audiences around the world.
Reeves previously voiced Duke Kaboom in the Pixar film Toy Story 4 (2019) and the hedgehog’s shadow Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024), narrated and produced under his comic book BRZRKR and the Netflix banner.
Kawamura is a Tokyo-based director and creative known internationally for his diverse design-driven works spanning commercials, music videos, television and large-scale public installations. He received a Cristal Award at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, an International Emmy nomination, and honors at the One Show and Clio Awards; He also designed the largest pavilion at the Osaka World Expo last year and created dance versions of some of Lady Gaga’s stage works.
Haidari It is produced by Noriko Matsumoto, president of Japanese animation house Dwarf Studios, which partnered with Netflix to produce the film Rilakkuma Series – which is the last short George bottle It has been shortlisted for the 2025 Academy Awards. The feature is a co-production between Dwarf Studios, Tokyo creative agency Whatever, and animation house TECARAT. The financing comes from Tomonobu Ibe of Questry Co., a veteran of Japanese entertainment content financing.
“I am very excited to collaborate with Kayan,” Kawamura said in a statement. “When someone with his experience and creative vision sees your proof of concept and says, ‘I want to be a part of this,’ that’s an incredible feeling. He’s not just lending his voice.” Haidari – It’s helping us shape and expand this world, and I can’t wait to see where we take this together.
A release date has not been set yet. Reeves is represented by WME.
