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A lesser-known (at least on this side of the globe) martial arts epic has surged to success on streaming worldwide. The action sequel, 2024’s Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General, has now powered its way into the top 10 on Netflix, with audiences all over the globe tuning in to discover what happens next in this saga of warring factions in ancient China. Here’s a spoiler, what happens is epic in a way that few movies are.

Directed by Shinsuke Sato and led by Alice in Borderland star Kento Yamazaki, the rest of the cast includes Ryo Yoshizawa, Kanna Hashimoto, Nana Seino, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Amane Okayama, Takahiro Miura, Takayuki Hamatsu, Riku Hagiwara, Koji Kikkawa, Masami Nagasawa, Shun Oguri, Takao Osawa, Koichi Sato, and Hiroshi Tamaki, Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General is the latest installment in the Kingdom franchise, which is based on the manga by Yasuhisa Hara.

After holding the first place for two consecutive weekends since its debut, Kingdom: Daishougun no Kikan ( Return of The Great General ), the fourth installment in the live-action Kingdom film series, slipped to second place in its third weekend of release. In the weekend of July 26-28, Kingdom: Daishougun no Kikan earned 561 million yen (3.65 million Usd) on 364,000 admissions according to Kogyo Tsushinsha . While the numbers were down 31.3 percent from last weekend , the movie still surpassed the opening weekend revenue of Deadpool & Wolverine (513 million yen) which opened in Japan on July 24. After 16 days of release, the fourth Kingdom live-action film has earned a cumulative 4.6 billion yen (29.9 million Usd) on 3.13 million admissions in Japan, which is the best box office performance in the live-action film series through the end of its third weekend of release. Below are the cumulative box office results for the Kingdom live-action film series through its third weekend...

Kingdom: Daishougun no Kikan ( Return of The Great General ), the fourth installment in the live-action Kingdom film series based on Yasuhisa Hara's manga, made its first-place debut this last weekend with record-breaking results. The film starring Kento Yamazaki opened in 532 theaters across Japan on July 12, earning 2,203,455,700 yen (13.91 million Usd) on 1,467,002 admissions in its first four days from Friday to Monday, according to Kogyo Tsushin . The opening was 181 percent of that of the previous third installment, Kingdom: The Flame of Destiny released in July 2023 . The film's official website said that its first-three-day gross was not only the highest in the Kingdom live-action film series, but also the highest opening record in the history of Japanese live-action films, making it a blockbuster hit with box-office revenue of 10 billion yen in sight. Below are the box office results (by day) for July 12-15, according to Eiga.com : July 12 (Fri) - 369,925,500 yen...

A number of people in Amp, including this author, have a soft spot for Kiyohiko Shibukawa, an actor who has proven a true chameleon in the way he jumps from one part to another, with equal success. Shibukawa, born July 2, 1974, actually started his career as a fashion model under the name Kee. He started acting in TV with “Twinkle”, in 1998, and he got his first role in cinema in Toshiaki Toyoda's “Pornostar”, with him actually accompanying the director in most of his later works, something that actually happened with the rest of the filmmakers he was casted by over the years. These include, among others, Takashi Miike, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and Eiji Uchida. Currently, his credits number 160, with the majority of them being non-protagonist roles, which, still, though do not prevent him from shining quite brightly, particularly to the more “trained” eye.

Without further ado, here are 10 of his most iconic performances,...

Along with Keishi Otomo and Takashi Miike, Shinsuke Sato completed the trio of Japanese directors who truly excel in action anime/manga adaptations, with his works in “Gantz”, “Library Wars”, “I am a Hero” etc speaking for themselves. “Kingdom 2: Far and Away”, which continues the adaptation of the homonymous manga by Yasuhisa Hara, highlights the fact in the most eloquent fashion as it currently streams on Netflix, just before the third part's release later this year.

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In a style that points more towards Chinese than Japanese epics (the original is actually based on the Warring States period), the sequel see the State of Qin, who is now governed by Eisei, after the events of the first movie, facing a new threat from a neighboring nation, the State of Wei. Headed by general Go Kei, a genius in military warfare,...