12/31/05 - 2005 Hoga Box Office Top 10 (Click to read more)
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12/28/05 - More Japanese actors in Chinese movies (Click to read more)
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12/26/05 - "YAMATO" aiming at the biggest box office hit this year
Kadokawa's war time movie "YAMATO" opened on December 17, and recorded the box office result of 343mil. yen with 265,542 audience over the weekend, according to eiga.com. The revenue is the second after "Harry Potter", and tops "King Kong"'s 313 million yen with 237,000 audience, even though the number of screens is less than half of "King Kong". The finlal count is in trajectory to exceed 5 bil. yen in total, to be the biggest hit among Hogas this year. The film has been much talked about in Japan because it is the first movie by Haruki Kadokawa after coming back from his drug-related prison terms, and with the all star cast including current hot stars such as Takashi Sorimachi, Shidou Nakamura, Kyoka Suzuki, Shinobu Terajima and Eiji Okuda, as well as veterans Tatsuya Nakadai and Tetsuya Watari, and young Sosuke Ikematsu who played the young samurai boy in "The Last Samurai".

Kaiju Shakedown 12/22 (including links to Variety and Hollywood Reporter articles)
YAMATO official Website (Japanese)
eiga.com 12/20 (Japanese)


12/21/05 - 29th Japan Academy Awards Nominees were Announced
The Academy Awards celemony will be held on March 3, 2006.
Best Picture nominees include "Always - Sunset on the 3rd Street" (which was nominated in all of 13 categories), "Kita no Zeronen (Year One in the North)", "Semishigure (Showering Sound of Cicadas)", "We Shall Overcome Someday (Pacchigi)", and "Aegis". Best Leading Actor nominees were Somegoro Ichikawa (Semishigure), Hiroyuki Sanada (Aegis), Satoshi Tsumabuki (Snowy Love Fallin' in Spring), Yusuke Santamaria (Negotiator Mashita Masayoshi) and Hidetaka Yoshioka (Always ...). Best Leading Actress nominees include Yoshino Kimura (Semishigure), Koyuki (Always ...), Yuko Takeuchi (Snowy Love Fallin' in spring), Mika Nakashima (Nana) and Sayuri Yoshinaga (Year One in the North).

Detail list of Japan Academy Awards 2006 nomination
Japan Academy Awards past winners database
Japan Academy Official Site (in Japanese)


12/13/05 - Hiroyuki Sanada's "Master of the Crimson Armor (The Promise)" nominated in Golden Globe
The Chinese film by Chen Kaige ("Farewell My Concubine") is nominated in Golden Globe's "Best Foreign Language Film" category. The All-Asian film features Hiroyuki Sanada (Japan), Jang Dong-kun (Korea), Cecilia Cheung (Hong Kong), Nicholas Tse (Hong Kong), and Liu Ye (China), and is considered the biggest movie event in China this year. The film will open in China on Dec. 15, and subsequently in other Asian countries. They are running a huge promition currently in all over China and Southeast Asia.

HFPA Press Release 12/13
"Master of the Crimson Armor" information (from "Hiroyuki Sanada Enthusiast")


12/12/05 - Koji Yakusho will star in a controversially sexy movie, similar to "Lost Paradise"
Nikkan Sports reports that Toho won the rights to filmize the popular serial story on Japanese largest business paper Nikkei, "Ai no Rukeichi (literal translation: Exile Place of Love)" by Junichi Watanabe, and that Koji Yakusho will star in the movie. The story is about the adultery between a middle-aged novelist and a beautiful housewife. The novel still continues on the paper, and has been a hot topic among Japanese businessmen since its start in Nov. 2004 with its extremely explicit portrayal of sex scenes. Yakusho starred in the same pattern film, "Lost Paradise"in 1997, by the same author on the same newspaper with the similar theme. The actress to play the opposite is still not announced, but Kyoka Suzuki is rumored in various blogs. The film will be directed by Yasuo Tsuruhashi. The filming will start in Spring 2006, and is scheduled to be released in Japan in Fall.


12/7/05 - "Master of the Crimson Armor (The Promise)" US release delays
The opening of the Chinese spectacle film with all-Asian top stars including Hiroyuki Sanada, which was scheduled to be released on Dec. 16 in the U.S., will be delayed sometime in 2006, according to Kaiju Shakedown.

Kaiju Shakedown 12/7


12/7/05 - Ken Watanabe re-marries
Nikkan Sports reports Ken Watanabe and actress Kaho Minami announce today that they legally got married on Dec. 3. Watanabe divorced in April 2005, and Minami in March 2000, respectively from their ex-spouses.

Sponichi picture of Ken and Kaho at the screening in NY 12/7

12/5/05 - "Memoirs of a Geisha" LA screening and premiere
At Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, "Geisha" LA premiere was held on 12/4. All the main cast were present, including Ken Watanabe and Koji Yakusho, and the audience enthusiastically applauded to the film. There certainly are some controversy about the film on the net, as "it is not real Japan" or "why the Chinese actresses", but so far in general, Japanese press is giving a warm welcome to the film.

By the way, Pymmik has more detailed Koji Yakusho's fun speech at Tokyo Premiere. Please see the page below: (Thank you, Pymmik!!)
Pymmik site "Memoirs of a Geisha" premiere report


12/2/05 - Nikkan Sports Film Awards announced
Following yesterday's Hochi, another entertainment newspaper Nikkan Sports announced its own Film Awards. The winner line-up is very much like Hochi, except for the Best Actress category. (note; Full list added on 12/5)

The Best Movie - "We Shall Overcome Someday (Pacchigi)"
The Best Actor - Somegoro Ichikawa ("Ashura" and "Semishigure")
The Best Actress - Kyoko Koizumi ("Kuchu Teien")
The Best Director - Isshin Inudo ("Maizon de Himiko" and "Touch")
The Best Supporting Actor - Shinichi Tsutsumi ("Always", and "Fly Daddy Fly")
The Best Supporting Actress - Hiroko Yakushimaru ("Always")
The Best Rookie - Erika Sawajiri ("We Shall Overcome Someday")


12/1/05 - Hochi Film Awards announced
As the first among the Japanese movie awards this year, Hochi Film Awards (given by Hochi newspaper) winners were announced on 11/29. The notables are:

The Best Movie - "Always - Sunset at 3rd Stret"
The Best Actor - Somegoro Ichikawa ("Ashura" and "Semishigure")
The Best Actress - Yuko Tanaka ("Hi-bi: Days of Fire" and "Itsuka Dokusho Suru Hi")
The Best Director - Kenji Uchida ("Unmei janai hito")
The Best Supporting Actor - Shinichi Tsutsumi ("Always")
The Best Supporting Actress - Hiroko Yakushimaru ("Always")
The Best Rookie - Erika Sawajiri ("We Shall Overcome Someday")


11/29/05 - "Memoirs Of A Geisha" World Premiere is held in Kokugikan
Memoirs Of A Geisha (Japanese title "Sayuri"), a Spielberg production film with the director Rob Marshall (Chicago), based on a popular novel of the same title, premiered in Tokyo, Kokugikan, ahead of opening on December 9th in the U.S. (limited, NY/LA/SF) and Dec. 10th in Japan. The film describes the 1920-40 life of a star Geisha and boasts an international cast of Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh as well as leading Japanese actors Ken Watanabe, Koji Yakusho and actress Youki Kudo and Kaori Momoi. It was the first time since 1990 that Kokugikan (the host place of Sumo matches) allows a film showing, and the first ever of non-Japanese movies.

According to its Japanese official Webpage, Koji Yakusho jokes on stage, "The only thing I regret about this movie is that I lost Sayuri to the Chairman. If there is an sequel, it should be 'Revenge of Nobu' or 'Return of Nobu'."

"SAYURI" (Memoirs Of A Geisha) Newspage about the premiere (Japanese)
"SAYURI" Japanese Webpage (video trailer available)
SANSPO.com newspage (Japanese with a picture)
MovieWalker newspage (Japanese with many pictures)
"Memoirs of a Geisha" Sony Pictures Official Webpage (English)


11/23/05 - Disappointing start of two high-profile Hogas
Pre-screening of "Harry Potter" has started but is not yet included in this weekend's ranking, so "Always" continue to top the weekend box office. Two high-profile Hogas debuted, but both had a bit disapointing result. One is "Until The Lights Come Back" (5th place), all-star omnibus-like love story of 12 men and women, staged at a huge black out in Tokyo on Christmas Eve. The film was directed by Takashi Minamoto, and the main cast include Etsushi Toyokawa, Tomorowo Taguchi, Tomoyo Harada and many others. Another is "Under the Same Moon"(8th place) by Director Kenta Fukasaku and was introduced at TIFF. This film, again, is based on a popular manga by Seiki Tsuchida. For the main actor Yosuke Kubozuka, the winner of Japan Academy Award in 2001, this is the first movie in two years after his mysterious fall-off accident.


11/18/05 - Ken Watanabe was selected as one of the "Sexiest Men" by People Magazine
People Magazine's annual "Sexiest Men Alive" issue named Ken Watanabe in "International Men of Sexiness", along with Clive Owen, Keith Urban and Roger Federer. He also appeared in American Express advertisement on the same issue.

Yahoo! UK article (English)
Zakzak article (Japanese)


11/10/05 - Ken Watanabe's next project is in Hollywood again
Eiga.com reports that Ken Watanabe will play a drug dealer king in Chris Nahon's next action adventure "Chasing The Dragon", starring Wesley Snipes and Shu Qi. An FBI agent Bo Monroe (Snipes) and an Asian girl (Qi) chase Jimmy Jiro (Watanabe) in Taiwan.

Eiga.com article (Japanese)


11/10/05 - A Hit Comic Remake Movie Debuts as #1
"Always - 3 Chome no Yuhi (Sunset at 3rd Street)", starring Hidetaka Yoshioka and Koyuki, and a movie remake of a long-run comic of 30 years, debuted this week and ranked as #1 hit in theaters. It is a human drama based on the 1950s in Tokyo, originally ran as a comic series, and made into a movie with special effects to show the old-time Japan. In the initial review from the viewers, a very high 98.9% rated this film "very good" or "good".


11/5/05 -- Tokyo Film Festival wraps up
Nihon Keizai Shimbun's Naoko Kubota wraps up TIFF, closed on Oct. 30. The results of the competition is posted here. Japan's "Yuki ni Negau Koto" won the Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix, as well as 3 other categories including the best director and the best actor. Japanese film recived the grand-prix for the first time in 20 years.

As Asian market and its importance in the global film industry grows, more international collaborations are done among Asian players, and the Western investors' interest is also growing. In line with this trend, the project market Tokyo Project Gathering (TPG) was held with TIFF, to provide the meeting place for producers and investors who seek the international collaboration opportunities. This time, 20 movie projects entered and the most popular was "Eru no Ran - Ousatsu no Shima" by Director Kenta Fukasaku and screenwriter Mamoru Oshii. Although it is still much smaller than Hong Kong or Pusan, it marked the first step to internationalization.

Japanese films have already started to accomodate Asian talents in many ways. "Rikidozan", "Onaji Tsuki wo Miteiru", "Mahiru no Hoshizora" and "Veronica wa shinu kotoni shita" are some examples.

Japanese film industry has been largely closed to its domestic market, but the current environment calls for the change in direction, and this year's TIFF marks a new era for the industry.


10/25/05 -- Tokyo Film Festival info
--"Riding Alone for Thousand Miles " was screened on the opening day (10/22), and the star KenTakakura and the director Zhang Yimou walked on the longest red carpet in Japan ever at Roppong Hills.
--Special invitation film "Under the Same Moon" cast and staff held a press conference. The main star Yosuke Kubozuka, who got seriously injured in the falling accident in June 2004, gets back with a smile to the silver screen for the first time since the accident.

eiga.com article on "Riding Alone for Thousand Miles"
eiga.com article on "Under the Same Moon"
Tokyo Film Festival official site (10/22-30)


10/22/05 -- Takuya Kimura will star on the next Yamada-Fujisawa film
Japan's most popular TV star, Takuya Kimura "Kimu-taku" will be the leading actor of Yoji Yamada's next samurai period film based on Shuhei Fujisawa's novel, "Bushi no Ichibun" (Pride of Samurai), due to be released next autumn. The film will be the newest addition to the Yamada-Fujisawa films, all three of which have been successful (see "Samishigure" below). For Kimura, this will be the first leading role in a Japanese movie in ten years.

Nikkan Sports Article 10/6


10/9/05 -- "Deguchi no Nai Umi", story of a manned torpido pilot during the WWII
Acdording to "Zakzak", a press conference was held on 10/3. The original novel, literal translation is "the sea without an exit", is by a popular writer Hideo Yokoyama, who is also known for "Half a Confession", and Yoji Yamada writes the screenplay. Director Kiyoshi Sasaki is teaming up with another Kabuki star Ebizo Ichikawa. "Kaiten", a torpido that has a pilot on board, was another form of Japan's "Kamikaze" style suicide weapon in the late stage in the WWII, and the story is about a former baseball pitcher who becomes a pilot of Kaiten.

"Zakzak" article 10/3


10/4/05 -- "Semishigure" with a strong start, while "NANA" keeps going, with a sequel in plan
"Semishigure" starts with No. 2 position after "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" over the weekend, with 153mil. yen BO gross, the highest among the three films based on Shuhei Fujisawa's novels (others are "The Twilight Samurai" and "The Hidden Blade", both by Dir. Yoji Yamada), according to GOO Movie. According to his interview with ZakZak, Director Mitsuo Kurotsuchi follows Yamada as his mentor, so it is no wonder he follows Fujisawa's novel series, and it took him 15 years to plan this movie. The exit poll shows that "Very good" and "good" comprise 95% of the answers, and the film is supported by various age groups. My fellow "Eiga Seikatu" blog writer Cine-kichi writes that the film speaks about good old Japanese value with beautiful spoken Japanese, and it made him cry.

In the meantime, a recent Manga-based youth-life movie, "NANA" is still keeping No. 3 position. "NANA", opened on 9/3 at the top position in weekend ranking, is about the love and friendship of two young girls, who share the same name Nana. Naturally, the film is strongly supported by teen-age girls. With the strong result, the studio decided to produce a sequel, according to its official site.

"NANA" official site


9/30/05 -- "SHINOBI" gets remake offer from Hollywood
Bayspo reports that the recent hit ninja-romance movie "SHINOBI" is getting a remake offer from Offroad Pictures, which is known for "Matrix" series. The deal is still not closed yet as of the writing date. "SHINOBI", starring Yukie Nakama and Joe Odagiri, opened in Japan on Sep. 17, and is keeping the No. 4 position in the weekend box office ranking for two weeks. Kaiju Shakedown has an entry about it, including Japan Times review.

Kaiju Shakedown 9/30
Japan Times Review


9/29/05 -- Takeshi's "Blood and Bones" submitted for Oscar from Japan
According to Kunf Fu Cult Cinema and Japan Zone, "Blood and Bones", starring "Beat" Takeshi Kitano, Kyoka Suzuki and Joe Odagiri, was chosen as the Japan's entry for Academy Award Foreign Language Movie category. The film is about the violent Korean-born man in Osaka, and won a bunch of Japan Academy Awards, including the best director, best actress, and best supporting actor. (see Japan Academy 2005)

Kung Fu Cult Cinema
Japan Zone


9/29/05 -- "Semishigure", another Shuhei Fujisawa's filmization, is opening tomorrow in Japan
Shuhei Fujisawa seems to be the top favorite original novelist in the Japanese movie scene lately; after the success of Yoji Yamada's "The Twilight Samurai" and "The Hidden Blade", his another novel is turned into a movie "Semi-shigure". It is another human/love story of a poor samurai, and is by director Mitsuo Kurotsuchi, starring the top handsome Kabuki star Somegoro Ichikawa with great supporting cast such as Ken Ogata and Mieko Harada. Ichikawa also played the main role in "Ashura-jo no Hitomi" with Rie Miyazawa this year.

"Semishigure" official site


9/25/05 -- New Wave Jidaigeki "Yajikita" will be released in the U.S. theaters next summer
According to Sanspo, one of popular "new wave Jidai-geki (period drama)" films this year "Yajikita" (Japanese original title "Mayonaka no Yaji-san Kita-san") will be released in the U.S. by next summer. The distributor Media Blasters are hoping to show it in 30-40 theaters throughout the U.S. "Yajikita", directed by Kankuro Kudo and based on Kotobuki Shiriagari's manga, is the story of a funny trip of two guys in the 17th century Japan, hot and wild Yaji (Tomoya Nagase, known as the lead vocal of rock band TOKIO) and a drug addict Kita (Shichinosuke Nakamura, Kabuki actor who played Emperor Meiji in "The Last Samurai") on a motorcycle.

Yajikita official site (Japanese)
Kaiju Shakedown's review 10/5 (English)


9/17/05 -- Zhang Yimou's "Riding Alone for Thousand Miles "(Quian li zou dan ji), starring Ken Takakura, release in China is Dec. 22, 2005
Two of China's international blockbasters, "Quian li zou dan ji" by Zhang Yimou and "WuJi - The Promise" by Chen Kaige were expected to go on head-to-head at the same time, but "Quian li" ended up starting one week later than "The Promise" according to sina.com. "Quian li" is a story of a Japanese father (Ken Takakura) who visits China for a certain purpose, and is a product of a long-standing friendship between Yimou and Takakura. Kiichi Nakai (voice only) and Shinobu Terajima are also in the cast.

sina.com (Chinese)


9/17/05 -- AsianMovieNews reports "Geisha" "Racoon Princess" and Kaiju Shakedown about "The Great Yokai War"
AsianMovieNews reports about two of Zhang Ziyi's Japan-related films, "Memoirs of a Geisha" trailer clip and "Racoon Princess" (co-star with Joe Odagiri) DVD release (region 2), while Kaiju Shakedown writes about the review of Takashi Miike's "The Great Yokai War" review. --- ah, quick question... why does the background music of "Geisha" sound like "The Last Samurai"?

Yahoo! movie "Memoirs of a Geisha"trailer clip


8/27/05 -- "The Hidden Blade" by Yoji Yamada opens in US theaters April 2006
According to FilmJerk.com, Yoji Yamada's "The Hidden Blade" starring Masatoshi Nagase and Takako Matsu will be released in limited theaters in the U.S. on April 14, 2006. It will be the second Yamada's film release in the U.S. after the Oscar nominee "The Twilight Samurai" last year.

FilmJerk.com also reports some other opening dates of Japanese actor related films as follow:
"The White Countess"(U.K., with Hiroyuki Sanada) 11/4/2005
"Memoirs of Geisha" (U.S., with Ken Watanabe and Koji Yakusho) 12/9/2005
"WuJi - The Promise" (China, with Hiroyuki Sanada) 12/16/2005

It also is already reported on HVE Website that Junji Sakamoto's "Face" will be released in Region 1 DVD on October 4, 2005.


8/26/05 -- Summer movie report card in Japan
"The Suspect Shinji Muroi", big hit series "Bayside Shakedown" spin-off, is opening this Saturday, but the "summer movie battle" is pretty much over in Japan already. There is no official box office number publicly available (the only available information is Tsushin Kogyo's weekend ranking), but eiga.com site is estimating the final score of the summer (July-August) box office (bold fonts for Japanese movies):

1. "Star Wars Episode II - Revenge of the Sith" 11 bil. yen ($100 mil.)
2. "War of the Worlds" 6 bil. yen ($55 mil.)
3. "Pokemon" (animation) 4 bil. yen ($37 mil.)
4. "Aegis" 2.5-3 bil. yen ($28 mil.)
5. "Madagascar" (animation) or "Shining Boy and Little Randy" 2 bil. yen ($18 mil.)

Right before summer vacation starts (mid. July in Japan), "Densha Otoko" (Train Man) dominated the box office with 3.5 bil. yen ($32 mil.) in June. So with the exception of the obvious biggies "Sith" and "War", hogas (Japanese domestic movies) fared pretty well over the summer. Even those biggies, "Sith" probably will not make it to top "Episode I" and the target 17.2 bil. yen, and "War of the Worlds" lost momentum quicker than the distributor expected, plus other Hollywood movies struggling, entertainment site Zakzak (7/25) reports that hogas are doing very well collectively.

Outside of those top 5, some of the hit summer hogas include:
"Ubume no Natsu" (not exactly horror - maybe "dark suspense" by director Akio Jissoji)
"Fly, Daddy, Fly" (feel-good story of a whimpy daddy trains hard to help his daughter)
"The Great Yokai War" (fantasy movie about the battle between a boy and monsters)


8/24/05 -- Hiroyuki Sanada's new movie will be a U.K. film "The Untitled Sunshine Project" by Danny Boyle
The production of a UK film "The Untitled Sushine Project", directed by Danny Boyle, is announced. It is a sci-fi film about 8 spaceship crew to save the sun, and Sanada is one of them. Other crew members will be played by Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Chris Evans, Troy Garity, Cillian Murphy, Benedict Wong and Michelle Yeoh. (hmmm... I smell some marshal arts there...) Filming has already started in London, and it is planned to be released sometime in 2006.
<From Hiroyuki Sanada Enthusiast>


8/24/05 -- "Nobody Knows" DVD release in the U.S., while the award-winning Yuya Yagira's new movie "Shining Boy and Little Randy" is keeping a good pace in Japan
Yuya Yagira is the winner of 2004 Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Award, the youngest (14 years old) in its history. The movie, "Nobody Knows" by Director Hirokazu Koreeda, the story of 4 abandoned children, based on the real story, will be released in Region 1 DVD on September 13, 2005. In the meantime, Yagira's new film, "Shining Boy and Little Randy", the heartfelt story of an elephant trainer boy, is doing well in the box office in Japan with the great reputation among the viewers. In its 6th week since the opening, the movie keeps 7th position during the recent weekend.


8/10/05 -- Koji Yakusho in the press conference for his new movie, "The Uchoten Hotel" by Director Koki Mitani
This luxury comedy movie lines up the top Japanese actors/actresses, including Koji Yakusho, Takako Matsu ("The Hidden Blade"), Koichi Sato, Shingo Katori, Masahiko Tsugawa ("A Taxing Woman" series), Shiro Ito, Toshiaki Karasawa ("Kwaidan - Eternal Love"), Toshiyuki Nishida ("A Class to Remember" series), Ryoko Shinohara, Keiko Toda, Joe Odagiri and others. The story is set on a New Year's Eve in a luxury hotel "Avanti", showing 9 separate episodes going on concurrently, involving the hotel manager (Yakusho), a room keeper (Matsu), a congressman (Sato), a bell boy who dreams of becoming a musician (Katori), a singer in a declining career (Nishida), etc, t will be Mitani's first movie in 4 years.
<See Pymmik's site for more details>


8/5/05 -- Chinese movie "2046", with Takuya Kimura, opens in the US today.
The movie is by Director Wong Kar-Wai, and is starring Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, and Gong Li. The release is on a limited basis.


8/1/05 -- Ken Watanabe and Koji Yakusho in a Hollywood movie "Memoire of a Geisha", with Zhang Ziyi
MonkeyPeaches show some still pictures from the movie.


7/27/05-- Koji Yakusho will be in a new Hollywood film "Babel", starring Cate Blanchette and Brad Pitt
According to BaySpo, Koji Yakusho will play the main character in the "Japan" part of this 4-part film by Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, staged in the U.S., Mexico, Morocco and Japan.

7/22/05 -- Ken Watanabe will join a Chinese film "Battle of the Red Cliff"?
MonkeyPeaches reports that Ken Watanabe will play a part in "Battle of the Red Cliff" by Director John Woo, together wth Chow Yun-Fat and Leung Chiu-Wai (Tony Leung), but the info is not confirmed yet.


6/30/05 -- "Sengoku Jieitai 1549" will be remade as "Samurai Commando Mission 1549" in the U.S.
According to Sanspo, "Sengoku Jieitai 1549", starring Yosuke Eguchi and Kyoka Suzuki, Hollywood version will be made by Jennie Lew Tourgend ("Lethal Weapon" series co-producer), and is already receiving offers from 31 countries, the most number of countries among Japan-based non-anime movies, surpassing "Ring". They will use the original Japanese version as the base, and add some unused scenes and CGs, so the viewers will be able to understand without the prior knowledge of the Japanese history. The story is about a Self Defence Forces batallion, time-slips to 1549 and fights with samurais. It is a spin-off from "Sengoku Jieitai" released in 1979, starring Sonny Chiba - the framework is the same but the plot is different, newly written by Harutoshi Fukui. The Japanese version was released in June 11 and has made more than 1.2 billion yen (US$12 mil.) by the report date. Hollywood version is scheduled to be released by the end of 2005.

Link to Sanspo.com (Japanese only, Hollywood version poster image available)


6/27/05 -- Warner Brothers acquires a love story "Be With You" remake rights
One of the recent hit among "pure love" genre, a big fad in current Japan, "Be with You" will be re-made in Hollywood. Variety reports that Jennifer Garner will both star and produce the movie, with "American Beuaty" team Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen.

6/16/05 -- Ken Watanabe's first main role movie is "Asu no Kioku"(literal translation: Tomorrow's memory")
It may sound strange with his prominent and long career, but Ken Watanabe ("The Last Samurai") never played a main role of a movie in the past. In 1989, when he was in the filming of "Ten to Chi to" (literal translation: Heaven and Earth), he had to leave the position due to his lukemia.

"Asu no Kioku" original novel was written by Hiroshi Ogiwara, and it deals with a man who suffered from Altzheimer desease and his wife. Kanako Higuchi will play his wife. Yukihiko Tsutsumi ("Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World") will direct the movie. The filming will start on June 20, and the movie is scheduled to be released in 2006.