One of the most eagerly anticipated Japanese films this year is “Space Battleship Yamato,” a live-action adaptation of the popular 1974 anime of the same name. Directed by Takashi Yamazaki, “Space Battleship Yamato” has an impressive cast, featuring SMAP’s Takuya Kimura, Meisa Kuroki, Toshiyuki Nishida, Toshiro Yanagiba, Naoto Ogata, Reiko Takashima and many more, but the project has been anything but smooth.
During much of production, the film was referred to archaically as the “Dream Project,” and quickly became the talk of the Japanese film world because of its rumored 1 billion yen production cost. It was also supposed to be the comeback film for Erika Sawajiri, who was initially chosen as the leading lady but lost out to Kuroki late last year after her former agency, Stardust Promotion, informed production management that they were terminating her contract.
The film has been kept under wraps for most of the year and posters have only just begun showing up in movie theater lobbies recently. The cast and crew attended a special talk-show event and screening at Tokyo International Forum recently. More than 100,000 fans applied for tickets to the event. Kimura appeared especially excited about the film’s completion. “Finally, we are able to present this to an audience,” he said. “I’m hoping everyone will be moved by Yamato’s journey.”
The film, like the anime original, is a space opera set in 2199 about the adventures of the space battleship Yamato and its crew who set out on a journey to the planet Iscandar to acquire a device that can help rebuild the Earth which has been devastated after five years of fighting between the forces of Earth and the Gamilon invaders. Kuroki, who admitted she hasn’t seen the completed film yet, said: “I hope the fans enjoy it. I appear more boyish than the original.”
“We had a lot of problems along the way. It was a difficult journey, but Yamato was able to finally touch down safely,” said director Yamazaki, who won acclaim for “Always Sunset on Third Street.” “It’s risky to release a sci-fi film in Japan, but I thought it was a story worth telling.”
One surprising departure from the source material in this adaption was the decision to have Reiko Takashima portray a re-envisioned Dr Sawatari. On top of being a male, the original character is a womanizing drunkard. “In the anime, Dr Sawatari was a comic relief character in a relatively serious story. It was a lot of pressure for me, as a woman, to play that kind of role,” said Takashima.
Adding an international touch to the film is the theme song, “Love Lives,” by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.
“Space Battleship Yamato” opens nationwide on Dec 1.
SMAP's Takuya Kimura's (38) latest movie is set to be released in several countries across Asia, Europe, and has offers from major US film distributors, it was revealed at the movie's opening event yesterday in Tokyo, reports Mainichi Shinbum Digital and Sports Hochi.
The star, actress Meisa Kuroki, and the cast of "SPACED BATTLESHIP Yamato" appeared at Yurakucho's TOHO Cinema theatre in Tokyo yesterday to meet fans on the movie's opening day where the film's director Takashi Yamazaki updated the 900 or so crowd on the movie's worldwide debut.
"I made this movie knowing that I wanted people all over the world to see it so all I can say is, ‘Go, Yamato!'," he said.
It has been reported the movie has already sealed deals to be shown in France, Germany, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and had recently received an offer from a major Hollywood movie distributor.
Kimura had said he was just as excited as his director about the movie's international release.
"I hope people can enjoy this Japanese sci-fi movie. I think it has the potential to touch many people in many countries, no matter their age, gender, or nationality," he said.
A special video message had been sent in from Aerosmith vocalist Steven Tyler, who had sung the movie's theme song "LOVE LIVES".
"Takuya! It's me, Steven. Congratulations on your opening," he said in the video.
It has been reported that Kimura was in smiles afterwards.
'Space Battleship Yamato' Tops Japan Box Office
7:50 PM 12/7/2010 by Gavin J. Blair
The latest "Harry Potter" film drops down to the second spot.
TOKYO -- The new live-action Space Battleship Yamato has cruised to the top of the box office, sinking Harry Potter down to the No. 2 spot with a take of almost 1 billion yen ($12 million) in the first five days since its Dec. 1 release.
Opening on 440 screens, distributor Toho reports that Yamato had pulled 791,012 cinema-goers into its wake by Sun 5. Nearly two-thirds of audiences are reported to be in their 30s and 40s.
The big screen version of the classic 1974 anime stars Takuya Kimura and has already been sold to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, France and Germany, with negotiations in progress for a U.S. release.
Elsewhere on the chart, the latest Bleach anime -- also distributed by Toho -- debuted in third spot, while Bushi no Kakeibo (Abacus and Sword) a family samurai drama from Asmik Ace and Shochiku, jumped up to fourth. SP The Movie Yabohen, a police drama from Toho, dropped down from second to fifth after six weeks in theaters.
"Space Battleship Yamato" earns nearly 1 billion in first 5 days
Mon, December 6, 2010 (11:17am EST)
Film distributor Toho has announced the box office results for the live-action "Space Battleship Yamato" movie, which opened on 440 screens in Japan last week. Over the 5-day period between its opening on December 1 (Wednesday) and December 5 (Sunday), the film earned a total of 943,995,550 yen from 791,012 viewers.
Based on a survey administered by computer and mobile phone, Toho also announced some statistics about the viewing demographic. The audience was approximately 52% male and 48% female. The bulk of the viewers (44.4%) were in their 40s, with the next largest age groups being the 30s (19.0%), 50s (15.1%), and 20s (12.9%). As for occupation, 54.5% said they were company employees, while 16.3% were housewives.
The survey also asked viewers about their reasons for watching the movie. At 31.9%, the most common response was that they wanted to see a live-action version of "Yamato." 21.7% said they watched it because they liked the original "Yamato" anime series, and 15.8% said they went because it starred SMAP's Takuya Kimura. 5.3% replied that they watched it because the special effects seemed amazing.
Sci-fi thriller 'Yamato' sails way to hit status
Kyodo News
The silver screen adaptation of the animated TV series "Space Battleship Yamato" has become a hit since its Dec. 1 release, drawing in more than 2 million viewers and ¥2.5 billion.
Most are men in their 30s and 40s who became enamored with the series as youngsters.
The Japanese film, starring actor Takuya Kimura and actress Meisa Kuroki, topped the box office rankings in its first week and remained a top-five film through December, according to Kogyo Tsushinsha.
The first series in the Yamato saga was a huge hit when it aired in 1974 and spawned several sequels, including the new film. It chronicles an uncharted cosmic voyage taken by the 22nd century spaceship, which was modeled on the Imperial Japanese Navy's battleship Yamato from World War II.
Translator Nozomi Omori, a follower of sci-fi trends, said the romantic nature of space travel and the film's focus on the crew members' interactions appeals to adult viewers.
"People from the generations who do not know about the boom in the 1970s showed only a tepid reaction to the film, but the Yamato stories retain a mysterious enchantment," Omori said.
Men around 40 are lavishing praise on the sci-fi extravaganza.
"The action version helped me feel the Yamato story was more real," one said.
Kimura Takuya to star in most expensive TBS drama ever, “Nankyoku Tairiku”
Today TBS has announced that they are going to broadcast a new drama in October called “Nankyoku Tairiku ~Kami no Ryouiki ni Idomunda Otoko to Inu no Monogatari~” and that it is going to be the most expensive drama serial in the history of TBS. And who else would be more appropriate for such a huge project than the drama king himself, SMAP’s Kimura Takuya.
The drama is going to be based on the true story of Japan’s First Cross-Winter Expedition in Anarctica. Kimura’s role of geologist Kuramochi is going to be quite similar to that of actor Takakura Ken in the 1983 film “Nankyoku Monogatari“, simply known as “Antarctica” in many western countries. However, it’s not going to be a complete remake.
Kimura is already more than excited about this project. “I got really ‘fired up’ whenever I read the script, but I guess it’s going to be freezing cold at the set… I’m going to challenge inaccessible areas, both in terms of the content and the filming, which is making me even more excited for this project,” he said.
The plot will focus on the 11 members of the team and their relationship with the 19 Sakhalin Huskies. Terrible weather conditions make it almost impossible for the team to return back home and they end up being forced to leave all of the dogs behind at the Shouwa Base. One year later Kuramochi and a few others returned to the base with the Third Cross-Winter Expedition and much to their surprise, two of the dogs, Taro and Jiro, were able to survive despite the harsh conditions. Their reunion with the two dogs is going to be the big emotional highlight of the drama.
The filming is going to begin in February and will take more than half a year to complete. The set for the Shouwa base will be established in Hokkaido, but the production team is also looking into the possibilities to film a couple of scenes in Antarctica.
More actors have already been announced for the cast as well. Sakai Masato is going to play Himuro, the biggest rival of Kuramochi and the man in charge for the weather observation. Other roles are going to be played by Yamamoto Yusuke, Terajima Susumu, Ogata Naoto, Kagawa Teruyuki and Shibata Kyouhei.
TBS also won’t hold back with the budget, as it is going to be their biggest project for their 60th anniversary.
As mentioned above, “Nankyoku Tairiku” is going to start airing in October. It is scheduled to air every Sunday at 9pm.
Post time 11-11-2010 05:36 PM
