'Shōgun' Star Hiroyuki Sanada Wants A Crack At 'Star Wars' Universe

‘Shōgun’ Star Hiroyuki Sanada Wants A Crack At ‘Star Wars’ Universe

Japanese action star Hiroyuki Sanada (“Westworld,” “Sunshine”) isn’t a stranger to Hollywood genre work, briefly appearing in Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” as a sword-wielding Yakuza desperately trying to fight off Clint Barton’s revenge-seeking Ronin and even played a scheming corporate villain in James Mangold‘s “The Wolverine.” In his new Hulu samurai series, “Shōgun,” the veteran actor is getting a lot more stage time, and it’s led to some serious buzz around the show alongside the authentic touches across the production thanks to Sanada’s creative involvement as a producer. However, it sounds like Sanada is itching to travel to a galaxy far, far away.

‘Yeah, all of them. Especially ‘Star Wars’ I’m a big fan of them…I can’t wait. I can’t say [one favorite character] because [the] world itself is amazing,” Sanada told Variety (See video below) on the red carpet at the Hulu On Disney+ launch event Friday.

Twinsand — Hiroyuki Sanada in John Wick 4 (2023)

It’s worth mentioning that Sanada has long been trained in sword work, which was displayed in both “The Wolverine” and “John Wick 4” (has a sword fight versus “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” actor Donnie Yen) So, in theory, playing a stoic Jedi master would feel like a perfect casting choice.

Yashida Compound (Wolverine Production Design) | Hugh jackman, Scene photo,  Jackman
Hiroyuki Sanada and James Mangold on the set of “The Wolverine”

We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Mangold keeps Sanada in mind for a role in his upcoming Jedi origin movie “Star Wars: Dawn of The Jedi,” which is potentially going to be ready for a December 2027 release. The project recently added Beau Willimon (“Andor,” “House of Cards”) to help Mangold co-write the film’s script, but we’re still waiting on major casting news on multiple fronts for upcoming “Star Wars” movies.

Sanada has plenty of “Star Wars” options beyond “Dawn” with follow-up seasons for “Ahsoka,” “The Mandalorian,” “Star Wars: The Acolyte,” and “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” on the table at Lucasfilm. There are also two other feature films gearing up to begin shooting this year with Jon Favreau’s “The Mandalorian & Grogu” and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s “Star Wars: New Jedi Order” that sees Daisy Ridley reprise the Rey Skywalker role to train a new generation of young Jedi. Dave Filoni (“Ahsoka”) and Shawn Levy (“Deadpool & Wolverine”) are also developing their own features.

“Shōgun” is currently streaming on Hulu (internationally on Star) and is being billed as a limited series, which should allow Sanada to take more franchise roles down the road.

SOURCE: VARIETY

‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’: Lucasfilm Announces That Jon Favreau To Direct New ‘Star Wars’ Film That Begins Shooting This Year

We’ve been waiting for ages to get some real concrete details about some of the upcoming “Star Wars” movies in various stages at Lucasfilm and there has been a bit of reveal. Today, the studio has announced a new film from Jon Favreau is set to head into production in 2024 and given the new “Star Wars” film the title of “The Mandalorian & Grogu” which clearly establishes his spinoff of the popular Disney+ series will indeed feature the former bounty hunter and the foundling with Jedi abilities.

American actor Pedro Pascal (“The Last of Us“) plays the titular Mandolarian, Din Djarin, the surrogate father of Grogu (aka Baby Yoda) as the two have turned into a family as they go on various adventures across the galaxy which sees them become integral parts of the Mandalorian community. The setting takes place years after the events of “Star Wars: The Return of The Jedi” and we’ve seen two appearances from Luke Skywalker, and there are expectations we could see other original trilogy characters appear in the spinoff movie but how exactly they’ll be present to theatrical audiences isn’t known.

We also assume that likely means that this new movie will replace the fourth season of “The Mandalorian” and means the crew of the show is likely working on the feature as well.

The official “Star Wars” website also includes a piece of concept artwork, and that you can see below.

Pascal had been reportedly in talks to play Dr. Reed Richards in Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” reboot from director Matt Shakman and is expected to go into production before “The Mandalorian & Grogu.” One of the more interesting aspects of the streaming series is that Pascal mostly does voiceover work as Din Djarin with a stunt actor performing a bulk of the in-costume and fight scenes, the character rarely taking off his helmet makes all this possible.

Ahsoka Release Date Confirmed For August On Disney+

Filoni and Favreau are said to be officially in development for a second season of “Ahsoka” too continuing the story of the characters from “Star Wars: Rebels” and the former Jedi from “Star Wars: Clone Wars.” However, given the film is the now main priority for the writer/director it’s unknown when we’ll see “Ahsoka” season two begin shooting. It was previously announced that Filoni would be making his own film as well taking place in the era of the Disney+ series and seemingly could focus on Grand Admiral Thrawn’s return, ala, “Heir To The Empire.” Although, we’re unclear how much of that will impact the second season of “Ahsoka” or if the two will be related at all.

Of course, Favreau isn’t a stranger to cinematic universes after directing “Iron Man,” and “Iron Man 2” for Marvel Studios helping to usher in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a global audience with a batch of lesser-known Marvel characters. He’s been since working on a fleet of streaming series for Lucasfilm with the aforementioned “Ahsoka,” “The Mandalorian,” “The Book of Boba Fett” miniseries, and the upcoming Jon Watts project “Skeleton Key.”

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (“Ms. Marvel”) is also set to direct Daisy Ridley‘s return as Rey Skywalker in a new film that will see her start a new Jedi school and had been expected to begin shooting this year as well but we’re still waiting on casting news on that front. Other “Star Wars” pics in the works include a Jedi origin film from James Mangold (“Logan”) set ages before the Jedi Order/The Old Republic alongside mystery films from Taika Waititi, and Shawn Levy.

SOURCE: LUCASFILM