For a while now Keanu Reeves has been on the lookout for a suitable project for his directorial debut, now at last he seems to have found it. It is reported that Reeves is to star and direct in Man of Tai Chi, which is being financed by Village Roadshow and Universal. He will co star with Tiger Chen whom he worked alongside in The Matrix, Reeves has said that he would like to play a villain but no confirmation has been made yet regarding the script. Man Of Tai Chi is being planned as well meaning homage to the classic Kung Fu movies made popular in 70’s cinema, the film is set in Beijing and will be shot in both Mandarin as well as English. An interesting project for sure it has been known for some time that this was a dream project for the actor cum director.
Glen Basser of Village Roadshow confirmed today that, "We are pleased to announce Man of Tai Chi under the Village Roadshow Pictures Asia label and to extend our long-standing relationship with Keanu." (Incidentally, Matrix trilogy was backed by the same company.)Universal's David Kosse meanwhile, weighed in with, "Man of Tai Chi has an amazing pedigree of filmmakers and we're thrilled to be a part of Keanu's directorial debut." Fans of the genre will no doubt lap this up and it will be interesting to monitor Reeves transition to directing duties, watch this space.