Latest news with #ShinjiHiguchi
Geek Tyrant
5 days ago
- Business
- Geek Tyrant
GKIDS Is Bringing SHIN GODZILLA Back to Theaters in Glorious 4K; Watch the Trailer! — GeekTyrant
If you missed seeing Shin Godzilla on the big screen back in 2016, this summer just gave you a second chance, and it's bigger, sharper, and louder than ever. I also included a trailer for you to watch below. GKIDS has officially acquired the North American distribution rights to Shin Godzilla , the acclaimed Japanese reboot directed by Neon Genesis Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno and Shin Ultraman director Shinji Higuchi. The distributor will be unleashing the film in U.S. theaters on August 14th, complete with its original Japanese audio, restored text cards, and for the first time in North America, a 4K remaster. A home release is also on the way. GKIDS President David Jesteadt had this to say about the announcement: 'With an incredibly timely story of people struggling to work together to stop imminent destruction, backed by some of the most explosive action scenes the franchise has ever seen, Shin Godzilla is a modern masterpiece. We are honored to play a part in bringing the film back for American fans, better than ever.' This marks GKIDS' first venture into the Godzilla universe since Toho's acquisition of the franchise in 2024. It also continues the studio's commitment to spotlighting essential Japanese cinema, following their nationwide theatrical rollout of Hideaki Anno's Love and Pop earlier this year. Shin Godzilla is a political thriller, a disaster film, and a bold reinvention of the Godzilla mythos. The movie follows the Japanese government as it scrambles to respond to a nightmarish creature's sudden emergence in Tokyo. As the beast evolves with each new form, so too does the crisis, escalating into a full-blown bureaucratic and existential nightmare. And then... the U.S. arrives, with a folder marked only: Godzilla. I loved this movie, so if you've never seen it, it's definitely one worth watching! The movie went on to become a legitimate phenomenon in Japan. Toho's Chief Godzilla Officer, Keiji Ota, shared: 'Shin Godzilla marked the first Japanese-produced Godzilla film since the release of Godzilla Final Wars in 2004. Upon its release, it became a social phenomenon in Japan, playing a pivotal role in reviving the Godzilla franchise after a 12-year hiatus, and we're thrilled to bring this landmark film back to the big screen in North America. 'For some, this will be their first time experiencing it — and there's no better way to feel the overwhelming presence, power, and terror of Godzilla than in a theater. Enjoy the film!' Shin Godzilla went on to gross $79 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing Japanese-produced entry in the franchise, a title it held until 2023's Godzilla Minus One took the throne. The film was also a critical hit, landing 11 Japan Academy Prize nominations and winning seven, including Picture and Director of the Year. For longtime fans and newcomers alike, this re-release is the perfect opportunity to (re)experience a truly wild, fun, intelligent, and visceral take on one of cinema's most iconic monsters.
Gizmodo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
‘Shin Godzilla' Is Getting the Re-Release It Deserves
When Shin Godzilla hit US shores back in 2016, its home releases were a bit of a mess—especially after it exited theaters in what was, before the release of Godzilla Minus One at least, a historic run for the franchise. But, almost a decade later, the film is now stomping back to theaters… and beyond that, finally getting the home release scenario it deserved in the first place. As revealed by Variety today, GKids has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to Shin Godzilla (which had previously been owned by Funimation, who released the film back in 2016 as the first Japanese Godzilla film to hit US theaters since Godzilla 2000). GKids will release a new 4K version of Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno's modernized spin on the kaiju icon in theaters starting August 14, but crucially the studio will also be releasing a new, UHD home release of the film in 4K, the first time the film will have been made available in the format in the U.S. Something has surfaced in Tokyo Bay. Newly remastered in 4K, SHIN GODZILLA from directors Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi returns to North American theatres starting August — GKIDS Films (@GKIDSfilms) June 2, 2025 Beyond the remastering, the new home release will also restore the stylized text cards that were removed in subtitled versions of Shin Godzilla's previous U.S. home release. Part of the film's commentary on the administrative absurdity of Japanese governmental bureaucracy, giving officials and projects overtly long and formalized titles, the theatrical release displayed the text captions in a stylized manner alongside the original Japanese, but home releases instead ran a clean version of the film removing them, replacing the titles with default subtitling. Sure, the commentary still came across, but it just didn't look anywhere near as good, and arguably made for an even worse subtitling experience. But after the runaway success of Godzilla Minus One in 2023, it's good to see Toho and GKids capitalizing to do justice to another entry in the Godzilla saga that remains just as timely as it did a decade ago. Shin Godzilla will return to American theaters from August 14, with the new 4K home release set to follow at a later date.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Bullet Train Explosion' Director on Creating the Netflix Action Thriller, Working Officially With Japan's Shinkansen
Shinji Higuchi's action thriller Bullet Train Explosion debuted on Netflix on April 23 with something of a bang, with the movie enthusiastically embraced by viewers and climbing as high as No. 2 in the streamer's global non-English films list. The movie was another win for Netflix Japan, and notably a breakout feature for the region after it had scored international and critical successes with series such as Alice in Borderland, First Love, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean, The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House and The Boyfriend. A sequel to Junya Sato's 1975 classic The Bullet Train — a film that inspired Jan de Bont's 1994 blockbuster Speed — Bullet Train Explosion updates the action to the present day and similarly sees an unseen villain claim (and also prove) that they have placed a bomb on a Tokyo-bound Shinkansen train, that is set to explode if the train drops below 100 km/h in speed. A combination of JR East train employees, passengers, as well as control tower staff and bureaucrats then attempt to figure out a plan to rescue the hundreds of train passengers and stop the train from reaching central Tokyo before it explodes. More from The Hollywood Reporter Is Europe the Last Bastion of DEI in Film and TV? A Belgian Boxer Goes to the Mat in Directors' Fortnight Entry 'Wild Foxes' (Exclusive Trailer) Tom Cruise Shuts Down Tariffs Talk at 'Mission: Impossible' Press Event: "We'd Rather Answer Questions About the Movie" On top of its lineage to The Bullet Train, Higuchi's film will have extra special resonance for Japanese audiences, as well as anyone who has visited Japan, with the central importance the Shinkansen plays in the movie. Bullet Train Explosion is notable for the production getting official backing from Japanese railway operator East Japan Railway Company, a rarity as the organisation is loath to sanction depictions of the service that may cast aspersions or associate it with unsavory issues. At Netflix's recent Asia Pacific film content showcase in Tokyo, Higuchi, as well as some of the creative team behind Bullet Train Explosion, spoke at length about the linkup with JR East and the amount of detail the production went into recreating the high level of verisimilitude in the film. Higuchi and the producers were keen to stress that Japan's legions of train afficianados would appreciate the level of work that went into the sets that recreated the carriages, the uniforms and everything else that was unimistakably a part of the experience of travelling on the JR East. Ahead of the streaming release of Bullet Train Explosion on Netflix, The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Higuchi about the film at the Tokyo showcase. The filmmaker discussed the inspirations he took from The Bullet Train, what the Shinkansen means to the Japanese people, the making of the film and some of the dos and don'ts from JR East Railway. First, I wanted to ask you what you think the Shinkansen train means to people in Japan? Why is it so important? I don't know what the Shinkansen train means for everybody in Japan, but for me on a personal level, I was born in 1965 and the first Tōkaidō Shinkansen was introduced a year before I was born. And so as a child, the Shinkansen was something that you would see in TV programs and there would be children's songs about it. It was something that everybody dreamed of, it was aspirational for us. It was the first thing that really let you experience things out of the ordinary. As I grew into an adult, I would use the Shinkansen more for getting to and from work. And so I started using it differently than compared to when I was a child. And the Shinkansen evolved too, the speed became 1.5 times faster than it was in the beginning, and it allowed you to go to all these different places. When it started, it was just one route between Osaka and Tokyo, then it expanded, and you were able to go everywhere. When that happened, it went from something out of the ordinary, to something that was part of everyday life. Then in 1975, there was the original movie, [The Bullet Train]. The poster showed the Shinkansen blowing up, but when you actually saw the movie, though, it didn't explode! Because it would be a disaster if it actually exploded, so the characters just did everything in their power to prevent the explosion from happening. [In the film] you see the police, the railway company, people doing everything they can to stop the bullet train, that was something that was very intriguing to see. [The star of The Bullet Train], Ken Takakura, is an iconic actor in Japan, he played perpetrator. This actor, who we usually saw as a hero, was now a villain, he sets a bomb on the train, and he is shot by the police at the very end. I was in fourth grade when the film came out, and until then I had only seen movies of monsters, heroes and animation. And The Sound of Music! [laughs]. So it was the first time that I saw a movie where the criminal was shot by the police. It was very shocking because I was accustomed to seeing movies with happy endings. [The film] really talked about the injustice that exists in this world, and it taught me a lesson. It was a refreshing experience, where you were able to experience the thrill of somebody actually committing a crime, and then also this real tension of seeing this beautiful Shinkansen being in this kind of situation. So the film left an emotional scar when I saw it for the first time. Regarding the themes of your film. What did you want to communicate to Japan and also to the world with the themes of the film? What I loved about is the way that it is a great action film, but also the way it celebrates the things the world loves about Japan, like working together to solve problems, keeping the trains on time, social trust. Did you have those things in mind at all? From a critical point of view, I think the Japanese people they are on a decline, compared to 50 years ago, when the original film was made. Everything has been going down, in terms of the economy. But then, if we bring you that decline as the core of this film, that's not going to make anybody happy! This time around [for Bullet Train Explosion], the characters in this film are all people that are not such great people, including, some of the passengers, they all have their faults. [There's the scandal-plagued] politician, there's the YouTuber that only thinks about money. There are a lot of these kinds of people in Japan today. And the ultimate character is the girl who has no appreciation for life and no hope at all. Those are the characters, but we made a point of not killing any of them. Then you have the JR people, the staff on the JR, these are people that seem like they are only able to do routine work. [Tsuyoshi Kusanagi's character] would have been able to save all the passengers if he was able to kill that girl, but he's not able to do that. So, it's really a question of whom the hero is, and that's the message that I wanted to convey when we were portraying the perpetrator. I think the character that Tsuyoshi Kusanagi played is very representative of the people of Japan in today's society. Actually, when we initially came up with the idea of the conductor, his background would be that he would have a family, he had children to go back home to. He would have this everyday life, and he would be stuck in this conflict between his family and his work. When we pitched that character idea to JR in the beginning, they said the scenes where [the conductor] leaves a voicemail on his smartphone or emails his family from the Shinkansen [weren't realistic] because when the JR conductor boards a Shinkansen, they do not have smartphones with them because they put them in their lockers at the station. They shut themselves off completely from the outside world and their families. From my point of view as an American, watching the film what I loved about it is that we're living in a time when all around the world, trust in institutions and civic society is breaking down. This film really celebrates people doing humble jobs with dignity — coming together to solve a problem. There's some critique of bureaucracy, but overall, people work together to solve a problem. The trains are running on time, where it feels like social services around the world are breaking down, like even Germany's trains don't run on time anymore! Do you think the world can learn from Japan a little bit at this moment and what this film says about that? And the other thing I'm curious about is what else JR said that you could and couldn't do, and what their concerns were? I don't really have an intention of pushing Japan's message to the world! I'm actually more curious to hear what people think of the film after they see it. When I first went to the airport [in the U.S.], I saw the people who were doing the body checks, and they seemed to be living an extension of their private life and everything was just very free and so that actually was very shocking to me when I first went to the U.S. And I think it really showed what kind of country that the U.S. is. I think there isn't a need for any country to be like the other. We need to learn and take the good things from one another. And they were throwing snacks! On the flight! [laughs] It makes you feel you can join in, become one of them! That would never happen on the Shinkansen! [laughs] It's a very small thing, but that's one of the things that I really appreciated when I went to the U.S., that experience. It's great. I love it. About JR and their concerns. I think, because they have so many rules, if we had kept to each and every one of their rules, everything would have been out of the question! In that sense, they really gave us that freedom to do what we wanted. But we really did stay in tune to the mindset of the employees and really thought of how they would react in these kinds of situations. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now "A Nutless Monkey Could Do Your Job": From Abusive to Angst-Ridden, 16 Memorable Studio Exec Portrayals in Film and TV The 10 Best Baseball Movies of All Time, Ranked
South China Morning Post
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Bullet Train Explosion director Shinji Higuchi on examining evil in the Netflix movie
The high-speed bullet train says Japan as much as Godzilla, sushi and Mount Fuji. And it takes centre stage in Shinji Higuchi's new film Bullet Train Explosion, which premiered on Netflix this week. Advertisement Higuchi, the director of the 2016 film Shin Godzilla , has reimagined the 1975 Japanese film The Bullet Train, which has the same premise: a bomb will go off if the train slows to below 100km/h (62mph). That movie also inspired Hollywood's Speed, starring Keanu Reeves , which takes place mostly on a bus. Higuchi recalls being fascinated by the aerodynamically shaped bullet trains growing up as they roared by, almost like a violent animal. To him, as to many Japanese, the Shinkansen – as the trains are called in Japan – symbolise the nation's efforts to become 'top-rate', superfast, precise, orderly and on time. 'It's so characteristically Japanese,' Higuchi says. 'To complete your work, even if it means sacrificing your personal life, is like a samurai spirit living within all Japanese.'
Japan Today
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Today
New Netflix film features hurtling Japanese bullet train with ticking bomb
Shinji Higuchi, director of the Netflix film 'Bullet Train Explosion,' poses next to the film's poster at Netflix offices in Tokyo on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama) By YURI KAGEYAMA The high speed bullet train says Japan as much as Godzilla, sushi and Mount Fuji. And it takes center stage in Shinji Higuchi's new film, 'Bullet Train Explosion,' which premiered on Netflix on Wednesday. Higuchi, the director of the 2016 'Shin Godzilla' (or 'New Godzilla,") has reimagined the 1975 Japanese film 'The Bullet Train," which has the same premise: A bomb will go off if the train slows down below 100 kph (62 mph.) That original movie also inspired Hollywood's 'Speed,' starring Keanu Reeves, which takes place mostly on a bus. Higuchi recalls being fascinated by the aerodynamically shaped bullet trains growing up as they roared by, almost like a violent animal. To him, as with many Japanese, the shinkansen — as the trains are called in Japan — symbolize the nation's efforts to become 'top-rate,' superfast, precise, orderly and on time. 'It's so characteristically Japanese," Higuchi said in an interview with The Associated Press. 'To complete your work, even if it means sacrificing your personal life, is like a samurai spirit living within all Japanese." The film's realism was achieved by a smooth combination of computer graphics and miniature train models, built to one-sixth the size of the real thing. A huge LED wall was used on the set to project visuals of passing landscapes as seen from the train window, and those shots were juxtaposed seamlessly with footage shot on a real train. The explosions are strangely exhilarating, and beautifully depicted with scattering sparks and smoke. Higuchi stressed that the filmmakers were careful to make sure the criminal act, as depicted, is not physically possible today. He said 'Bullet Train Explosion' marked a challenging departure from his past movies that were about heroes and monsters. 'I examined the question of evil, and how we pass judgment on a person,' he said. 'That's what my predecessors did as directors before me: Try to show what happens if you commit evil," he added. "And I tried to give my answer.' One departure from the original, which starred the late Ken Takakura as the bomber, is that Higuchi chose to focus on the train workers. Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, formerly a member of boys' band SMAP who portrayed a transgender woman in Eiji Uchida's 'Midnight Swan,' is convincing as a dedicated shinkansen worker. 'I always have fun working with the director,' Kusanagi said of Higuchi at a Tokyo premiere earlier this week. 'I've loved him for 20 years.' Kusanagi starred in 'Sinking of Japan,' Higuchi's 2006 science-fiction thriller about a natural catastrophe that threatens Japan's very existence. East Japan Railway Co, formed after the national railway was privatized, which operates the bullet train featured in Higuchi's reboot, gave full support to the film. It allowed the use of real trains, railway facilities and uniforms, as well as helping train the actors to simulate its workers and their mannerisms. The bullet trains have long been a symbol of Japan's blossoming as a modern economy and peaceful culture in the decades following World War II. The first leg, connecting Tokyo with Osaka, opened with much fanfare in 1964. The system now connects much of Japan, from the northernmost main island of Hokkaido through southwestern Kyushu. The train featured in Higuchi's work connects Tokyo with northern Aomori. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
