Accomplished TV director Hiro Murai lands his feature-length debut with A24

Over the past few years, Hiro Murai has quietly become one of the most prolific creators of modern pop culture. The director and executive producer has worked extensively with Donald Glover (a.k.a. Childish Gambino) on Atlanta and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, as well as music videos like “This Is America,” “Sober,” and “Sweatpants.” He’s also directed numerous videos for other artists like Death Cab for Cutie, A Tribe Called Quest, Earl Sweatshirt, Chet Faker, Lupe Fiasco, and more. At the same time, he’s also been busy directing episodes of Station Eleven, Barry, and Legion, and just scored an Emmy for executive producing The Bear. 

All of this is to say that Murai has had his hands in a lot of pots recently, but has never broken through onto the big screen—until now. Per Deadline, the filmmaker has finally set his feature-length directorial debut with A24. Hopefully you retained some of the knowledge and context you gained from watching Shōgun, because Hollywood is going to be spending a bit more time with the samurai. According to the outlet, Murai’s film, Bushido, is said to be “a high-stakes action film set against the backdrop of feudal Japan.” Murai will be directing from a script penned by Henry Dunham (The Standoff At Sparrow Creek). 

It gets more exciting. The film will be produced by A24 crown prince Ari Aster, alongside his Square Peg co-founder Lars Knudsen. Julia Oh, Christine D’Souza Gelb, and David Hinojosa are also producing for 2AM, the company behind films like Bodies Bodies Bodies, Past Lives, and upcoming Nicole Kidman scorcher Babygirl. Sharpen your swords, folks; this will definitely be one to watch in the coming months.