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EXCLUSIVE: Hiro Murai, one of today’s most influential and in demand directors of television and music videos, has found his long-awaited first feature project in Bushido, an original samurai film to be produced and financed by A24.
While plot details are being kept under wraps, Bushido is said to be a high-stakes action film set against the backdrop of feudal Japan.
Murai will direct from a script by Henry Dunham (The Standoff at Sparrow Creek), with the duo to produce alongside Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen for Square Peg, and the 2AM trio of Julia Oh, Christine D’Souza Gelb and David Hinojosa.
The project comes at a time when the samurai story has significant cultural cachet, given the outsized breakout success of FX’s Shōgun, an hour-long drama delving deep into samurai culture and the feudal politics of early 17th-century Japan. The winner of 18 Emmys, that show made history earlier this fall as the first Japanese-language effort to win the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series.
In addition to being a financial backer of 2AM, A24 is a longtime creative partner of both that company and Square Peg. The studio’s slate with Square Peg also currently includes Death of a Unicorne, starring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega; Eddington, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, and Emma Stone; The Drama with Zendaya and Robert Pattinson; and the recently announced Primetime, which Pattinson produces and is in early talks to lead for director Lance Oppenheim. On the heels of Bodies Bodies Bodies, from filmmaker Halina Reijn and 2AM, A24 is set to release their follow-up Babygirl, a terrific erotic thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson, on Christmas Day. Also in the offing for 2AM and A24 is Materialists, Celing Song’s follow-up to the Oscar-nominated Past Lives.
Perhaps best known for his Emmy-nominated and PGA Award-winning work as director and executive producer of FX’s zeitgeisty hit Atlanta, starring Donald Glover, Murai has gone on to partner with the star as director and executive producer of both his 55-minute Amazon music film Guava Island, co-starring Rihanna, and his Prime Video series Mr. and Mrs. Smith. He’s also worked with Glover on assorted music videos for his alter ego, Childish Gambino, including the Grammy-winning “This Is America,” which made a huge impact with over 795 million views on YouTube.
In addition to a pair of Emmy nominations this year for Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Murai landed one as executive producer of FX’s hit culinary series The Bear. Other notable credits for the multi-hyphenate include HBO’s Barry and Max’s Station Eleven. He is repped by Grandview, UTA, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
Dunham is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed thriller The Standoff at Sparrow Creek, starring James Badge Dale, which premiered at TIFF and was released by RLJ Entertainment. He is repped by Anonymous Content and attorney Stephen Clark of Lichter, Grossman, Nichols.
