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Japan Latest To Remake Simon Cowell’s ‘Got Talent’

Japan’s Abema TV has become the latest to order a version of Simon Cowell’s Got Talent franchise. Airing next year, Yoshimito Kyogo will produce the local version of the hit format, which has been remade in 72 territories and sees performers of all varieties attempt to impress a panel of celebrity judges and global audience with their talent. Judges will be comedian and actor Masatoshi Hamada, actress Alice Hirose, musician Gackt and producer Takayuki Yamada. The show has been a huge hit over many years for ITV in the UK, where it was created by Cowell’s Fremantle-backed Syco Entertainment and is licensed by Fremantle. The deal was brokered by Fremantle’s Katsuhiko Waza, who is Senior Vice President, Distribution, Japan; Paul Ridley, Senior Executive Vice President, International Distribution; and Stephen Flint, Director of Operations, Global Entertainment Production.

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Sales agency Pony Canyon is bringing some of the biggest upcoming Japanese live-action films to FilMart, including genre titles with global ambitions.

One is “Office Royale,” whose title references the 2000 Fukasaku Kinji classic “Battle Royale,” but is an action comedy scripted by popular funnyman Bakarhythm and directed by TV drama veteran Seki Kazuaki. Nakano Mei (“Park”) stars as an ordinary “office lady” (Ol or clerk) in a humdrum company. But when a punkish new hire (Alice Hirose) appears on the scene, the heroine’s company become a target for tough-as-nails OLs from all Japan, who bring a new meaning to the term corporate infighting. Warner Bros. Japan will release in May.

Another is “Tokyo Revengers,” a manga adaptation that also features martial arts action albeit with a time-traveling twist. A 26-year-old part-timer (Kitamura Takumi is stunned to hear that his middle-school flame Hinata (Mio Imada) and her brother were killed by gangsters.

Stars: Sota Fukushi, Yuko Takeuchi, Alice Hirose, Takuro Ohno | Written by Emiko Hiramatsu | Directed by Koichiro Miki

I will start this review by proclaiming that I am a cat lover. Always have been. My family had cats growing up and I’ve always loved them. Dogs, I’m not really fussed with but I can’t walk past a cat in the street without stopping and enjoying its company for a few minutes. So when I saw Fantasia Festival featured a film about a cat, I couldn’t wait to check it out.

Although the cats in The Travelling Cat Chronicles feature heavily in this movie, it is not actually all about them. We follow Satoru (Sota Fukushi) as he travels across Japan to find a new owner for his beloved cat, Nana (voiced by Mitsuki Takahata), who he can no longer look after. The film switches between current day...

Jury president Zhang Ziyi said the festival would be a “very special prenatal education” for her unborn baby.

The 32nd edition of the Tokyo International Film Festival (Tiff) got underway on Monday night (October 28) with the focus firmly on Japanese cinema and culture.

Despite the challenges of Typhoon Hagibis and subsequent heavy rain, Tokyo is currently awash with international visitors for the Rugby World Cup and is also gearing up for next year’s Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Last week, the city hosted international dignatories for the enthronement of Emperor Naruhito and the start of the Reiwa Era.

Amidst all these events,...

Unfolding while Japan simultaneously hosts the Rugby World Cup, recovers from the recent Typhoon Hagibis, and prepares for the upcoming Olympic Games, the 32nd edition of the Tokyo International Film Festival got under way Monday, with a strong sense of Japanese tradition and heightened conservatism compared with previous years.

That feeling was reinforced by last week’s enthronement of a new Emperor, which launched the beginning of the new Reiwa Era, and by the five-woman, kimono-clad ensemble that welcomed guests at Roppongi’s Grand Hyatt Hotel with traditional shamisen, flutes and drums.

The Reiwa Era means: “A new era for Japan and Japanese films,” said festival director Takeo Hisamatsu from the stage. “We have built the program to present the best of Japanese films to the world.”

This year the festival debuts a new section on Japanese animation, as well as a focus on Nobuhiko Obayashi, a pioneering experimental filmmaker...

Winner of the Cinema Splash Award for Best Director, “The Gun” is one of the most impressive films of the year and a rather interesting turn in 2018 for Masaharu Take, whose previous film this season was the light comedy “We Make Antiques“.

The script is based on Fuminori Nakamura’s Akutagawa award winner novel “Ju” and focuses on university student Toru Nishikawa, a rather detached young man whose life turns upside down when he discovers a gun by the riverside on his way home, and decides to pick it up and keep it. Initially, the gun gives him confidence and even swagger, which allows him to end up having sex with a gorgeous woman after a double date, and at the same time to pursue a relationship with fellow student Yuko, who seems to be rather interested in him. When he finds out, though, that the gun was used in...

The film is currently in production for local release this autumn.

Japan’s Toei has launched sales on romantic feature Taberu Onna (working title), directed by Jiro Shono (Time Lost, Time Found), at Filmart.

A tale of eight women of different ages, occupations and perspectives trying to find their own ways of living through food and sex, the film stars Kyoko Koizumi (Tokyo Sonata), Erika Sawajiri (Shinjuku Swan), Atsuko Maeda (Kabukicho Love Hotel), Kyoka Suzuki (The Kiyosu Conference), Alice Hirose, Yu Yamada, Dan Mitsu and Charlotte Kate Fox. Currently in production, it is set for release locally this autumn.

Toei...

Japanese director Sion Sono is one of the most prolific filmmakers working today, having released five films last year, including “Shinjuku Swan,” a live action adaptation of the popular manga series by the same name. The film followed Tatsuhiko (Gou Ayano), an adult entertainment talent scout working in the red light district of Tokyo. It has yet to receive a release in the United States, but Sono has already followed it up with a sequel, which follows Tatsuhiko as he clashes CEO Masaki Taki (Tadanobu Asano). The sequel stars Alice Hirose, Kippei Shiina, Yusuke Iseya, Motoki Fukami, Nobuaki Kaneko, Yu Yamada, Yusuke Kamiji, Maryjun Takahashi, Jun kaname, Hideo Nakano and Takashi Sasano. Watch a trailer for the film below. (Note: There are no English subtitles.)

Read More: Fantasia Review: Sion Sono’s ‘Shinjuku Swan’

Sono garnered recent acclaim for directing “Why Don’t You Play In Hell?”, about a renegade...

Time to meet the Shinjuku Swan. A full Japanese trailer has debuted for Sion Sono's latest film, Shinjuku Swan II, a sequel to his first adaptation of a manga about an adult entertainment scout named Tatsuhiko Shiratori. Sion Sono is one of Japan's best directors working today, behind films like Love Exposure, Why Don't You Play in Hell? and Tokyo Tribe, though this film series hasn't picked up any Us distribution yet. Shinjuku Swan II stars Gou Ayano, Alice Hirose, Kippei Shiina, Yusuke Iseya, Motoki Fukami, Nobuaki Kaneko, Yu Yamada, Hideo Nakano, as well as Tadanobu Asano as the rival scout CEO that Tatsuhiko goes up against. This looks like some of Sono's most commercial work, but might still be fun. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Sion Sono's Shinjuku Swan II, from YouTube (via Tfs): And for reference, here's a trailer for the first Shinjuku...

If there’s one thing that can unite us as a country and bring some potential healing, it’s the gleeful insanity of Sion Sono. After the results of last night, it may feel like we are living in the world of one of his films, but sadly, this is reality. However, the prolific director does have a new feature coming out the weekend of the inauguration (at least in Japan) and the first trailer has arrived.

To get a sense of just how fast the helmer works, his next film is a sequel to 2015’s Shinjuku Swan — a film which has yet to get a U.S. release — based on Wakui Ken‘s manga. Shinjuku Swan II follows Tatsuhiko Shiratori (Gou Ayano) who works as a scout, recruiting girls to work in the adult entertainment business, but conflict arises when he clashes with CEO Masaki Taki (Tadanobu Asano). Unfortunately,...