All articles by Mark Schilling – Page 6
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News
Warner Bros snags US rights to Japanese animation
Warner Brothers has acquired US and key European rights to Japanese animation feature Yu-Gi-Oh!, which is based on the popular card trading game comic and TV cartoon series.The TV Tokyo network, Shueisha publishing house and Asatsu DK advertising agency are jointly producing the feature animation.Warner Brothers is set to release ...
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JAPAN
Fresh from its Oscar triumph, Return Of The King easily beat off the challenge to its pole position by new release Master And Commander.LOTR led the nine-cities charts with a $54,508 screen average, compared with $39,613 for Master And Commander. The week's other Top Fifteen opener, Gothika, earned $300,105 on ...
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Japanese cinema icon to retire at 50
After 50 years and 27 films, Godzilla is to retire after the latest instalment, Godzilla: Final Wars, which is scheduled for a December release.Toho producer Shogo Tomiyama explained that the studio made the decision to retire its most famous character in the planning stages of the new film. "We could ...
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JAPAN
Master And Commander finished its first weekend at the Japanese box office, with Y187,552,450 ($1.7 million) on 136,257 admissions, for a Y718,591 ($6,592) average on 261 screens. The film, which opened on February 28, is expected to finish with a total of Y2 billion ($18.3 million). "Not a bad number ...
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News
Fuji TV to shoot submarine thriller
The Fuji TV network, the makers of last year's number one hit Bayside Shakedown 2, have announced the production of a submarine thriller set in the closing days of World War II.Titled Lorelei, the film will star Koji Yakusho (Eureka, Warm Water Under A Red Bridge) and 16-year-old newcomer Yu ...
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JAPAN
Despite opening on more screens and trailing more Academy Award nominations, Seabiscuit failed to dislodge The Last Samurai from its number one slot on the Japanese nine-major-cities chart, which it has occupied for eight straight weeks.Its $43,122 screen average was not only about half that of the Tom Cruise starrer, ...
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Reviews
Akame 48 Waterfalls (Akame Shijyuyataki Shinjyumisui)
Dir: Genjiro Arato. Japan. 2003. 159minsA veteran producer of Seijun Suzuki (Zigeunerweisen, Kageroza, Yumeji) and the director of the 1995 The Girl Of The Silence, Genjiro Arato has returned to screen after an absence of eight years with Akame 48 Waterfalls, a film with Suzuki's characteristic mix of traditional Japanese ...
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News
Daiei brand to become extinct
Kadokawa Shoten Publishing president Tsuguhiko Kadokawa has announced a reorganisation of the company's film businesses and a relaunch on April 1 under the name Kadokawa Pictures.The reshuffle, which will merge film-related subsidiaries of Kadokawa Holdings with film producer and distributor Kadokawa Daiei, will result in the extinction of the Daiei ...
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News
Shochiku ramps up slate as it goes for growth
After six straight quarters of improving sales and profits, boosted by such hits as The Twilight Samurai and the Lord of the Rings films, Shochiku is ramping up its slate of domestic and foreign titles.At a January 23 presentation to 400 exhibitors, investors, analysts and reporters, Shochiku officials, led by ...
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JAPAN
The Last Samurai and Finding Nemo continue to dominate the Japanese box office in their sixth week on release. Warner Japan, which was originally expecting the Tom Cruise samurai drama to finish with Y10 billion ($93m), has now upped its projection to Y13 billion ($121m). Meanwhile, Buena Vista is now ...
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JAPAN
After five weeks on release, The Last Samurai still sits firmly atop the Japanese box office, with a screen average, $106,865, higher than that of every film on the nine-major-cities chart, including second-place Finding Nemo ($64,475) and the indie sensation Josee, The Tiger And The Fish ($84,770).Week-on, the film's take ...
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News
Kirishima 1945 wins prestigious Japanese prize
Kazuo Kuroki's Kirishima 1945 has been named the best Japanese film of 2003 by the Kinema Jumpo magazine's critics poll.The film, an autobiographical drama set in rural Japan in the closing days of World War II, is currently on domestic release.Compiled annually by leading critics and scholars, the Kinema Jumpo ...
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Reviews
Vibrator
Dir: Ryuichi Hiroki. Japan. 2003. 95 mins.Ryuichi Hiroki’s Vibrator sounds, from its plot summary, like a throwback to the feminist dramas of a generation ago - troubled thirtysomething woman rediscovers love and life on the road. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore - she went to Japan. Based on an award-winning ...
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News
Miyazaki's Howl delayed till end of 2004
The release of Howl's Moving Castle, the new animation from Japanese hitmaker Hayao Miyazaki, will be moved back from July to November, sources at distributor Toho have revealed.The film, which was to be the tentpole of Toho's summer slate, has fallen far behind its production schedule, necessitating the change of ...
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News
JAPAN
The Last Samurai continued to dominate the Japanese box office in its fourth week on release, followed closely by Finding Nemo. Boosted by their strong showings in the peak New Year's season, the two films are expected to gross a collective Y20 billion ($189m).Samurai's fifth weekend (Jan 3-4) proved the ...
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Reviews
You've Got A Call (Chakushin Ari)
Dir: Takashi Miike. Japan. 2003. 112mins.Kuroi Kazuo, executive producer of You've Got A Call and president of Kadokawa-Daiei, insists that this shocker, about death-messaging mobile phones, is not yet another reworking of Ringu, the Hideo Nakata film that launched the Japanese horror boom back in 1998. "We're doing a different ...
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News
Higuchi to direct WWII Japanese submarine drama
Shinji Higuchi, a leading SFX director whose work includes the Gamera series, will helm Lorelei, a $11.2m (Y1.2 bn) production set in a Japanese submarine in the closing days of World War II. Veteran Koji Yakusho (Shall We Dance', Doppelganger) will co-star with TV drama sensation Satoshi Tsumaoki. Fuji TV ...
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JAPAN
The biggest battle of the Japanese holiday season is between The Last Samurai and Finding Nemo - and so far it's hard to call a winner. The opening round went to Finding Nemo, which set a new record for opening weekend box office with Y1,116,203,900 ($10,431,812) on 900,447 admissions and ...
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News
Japan moves to boost film industry
An advisory body to the Japanese government has drafted a report calling for wide-ranging government support of content businesses, including films. Headed by Ushio Electric chairman Jiro Ushio, the Contents Special Survey Committee will formally issue the report in March of next year and expects its recommendations to become law ...