Digitalization, profits lead to revival of classic films screenings

Asahi Shimbun

13-05-2025

On a recent spring day, a small arthouse cinema in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward was bustling with moviegoers who came to see 'Four Nights of a Dreamer,' a classic foreign film.
It was a 4K restoration version of the 1978 film directed by Robert Bresson, based on a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
A 27-year-old company worker living in Tokyo said she likes foreign films and usually goes to see new movies.
But she added she understands why some people prefer revival screenings.
'I don't want to push through the crowds on my day off, go all the way to a cinema far away from my place and pay 2,000 yen ($14) only to be disappointed,' she said on the day in mid-March. 'I can rest assured to see a movie when it is considered to be a classic.'
Another corporate worker, 25, who lives in the capital, said she feels less hesitant about seeing classic films and her favorite directors' works than watching new releases.
And when she watches new movies, she usually opts for Japanese anime titles, she added.
At a time when new foreign movies are suffering poor results at the Japanese box office, moviegoers are being increasingly drawn to revival screenings of classic films from overseas.
As demand for digitalization of film-shot movies increased thanks to video streaming services, there is also a rise in screenings of previously released films, an expert points out.
Industry players say that they can expect certain profits from old movies with a solid reputation and that young audiences watch classic films just like they are new releases.
1 IN 5 FILMS
The Film Classification and Rating Organization (EIRIN) is entrusted with rating films in Japan.
After the old rating standards were revised in May 2009, the nongovernmental organization re-examines movies based on new ones before they are reshown in Japan.
According to EIRIN, the number of foreign films re-examined for revival screenings was around 40 a year between 2018 and 2020.
But the figure soared to 88 in 2021 and 129 in 2022. It also stayed above 100--108 and 116 in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
During those years, the number of new foreign films rated by EIRIN has hovered around 400 a year, meaning that at least one out of five titles was previously screened in the country.
Meanwhile, the number of Japanese films reconsidered for new showings was 46 in 2023 and 42 in 2024.
The figures do not differ much from pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. It was 66 for 2018 and 30 for 2019.
A survey conducted by The Asahi Shimbun showed that at least 50 foreign films shown at revival screenings last year were either 'digitally remastered' or '4K remastered' editions.
It suggests that many old movies are screened again after they are digitally restored.
'Demand to digitize film-based movies has grown because they can be delivered to many people once they are streamed on the digital space, thanks to video streaming services that became widely available during the pandemic,' said Akira Tochigi, a film archivist who has been working on the conservation and digitalization of celluloid films for more than 20 years.
He said he assumes that the increase in the number of productions of digital editions has also resulted in their revival screenings in theaters.
'NEW' FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES
'There is a bit of a boom in revival screenings of foreign movies lately,' said a source close to a film distributor that has offered rescreenings of old movies.
Foreign films grossed about 51.2 billion yen in Japan in 2024, accounting for one-third of the box office earnings of Japanese movies.
The revenues for foreign films hit a record low since the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan Inc. (MPPAJ) started publishing box-office figures in 2000, except for 2020 and 2021 when the movie industry was hit hard by the pandemic.
While audiences are shying away from foreign films at an increasing pace in recent years, there is a growing view that classic films can attract moviegoers even though they are from overseas, according to the source.
A member of the film distribution sector said new movies always come with the risk that they could flop at the box office, while classic films with a solid reputation can attract a certain number of moviegoers.
Another distributor said costs can be kept down for some titles because there is no need to add subtitles or make other arrangements.
'I think many companies are beginning to turn their attention to masterpieces that can also appeal to younger audiences,' said Nobuo Murata, president of film distributor Mermaid Films Ltd., which has been showing old foreign movies for the past 15 years or so, indicating that classic movies have become 'promising' new materials for young people who haven't seen them yet.