Latest news with #TokyoVice
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Yôsuke Kubozuka To Star In ‘Gomusin' From Average Plus: Film Is First Project From Former Fremantle Exec Nastasja Borgeot's New Indie
EXCLUSIVE: Yôsuke Kubozuka will star in Gomusin, a Japan-UK-South Korea-set film shooting next year. It will be the first project from Average Plus Productions, a new label set up by former Fremantle drama exec Nastasja Borgeot. Japan's Generation 11 is on board as a co-production partner on the movie, which Bryerly Long will direct. Kubozuka, a Japanese Academy Award winner, is known for roles in HBO's Tokyo Vice, BBC and Netflix co-production Giri/Haji, and Martin Scorsese movie Silence. Deadline can share the news as Borgeot lands in Cannes with her new shingle for meetings with sales agents and distributors. More from Deadline From Darth Vader To Stan Lee: Respeecher CEO Alex Serdiuk On Hollywood's Growing Use Of AI Voice Technology Dakota Johnson Talks Romantic Experiments In Cannes Comedy 'Splitsville', Upcoming 'Materialists' And "Juicy" Colleen Hoover Adaptation 'Verity' Wes Anderson's 'The Phoenician Scheme' Scores 7½-Minute Ovation After Cannes Premiere, Leaving One Star In Tears Gomusin will follow Amiya, a British woman of Japanese and Korean descent. She receives a mysterious package at her London home addressed to her late father; it contains a gomusin, an old Korean shoe engraved with the word 'Tokyo'. She travels to Japan to unravel the mystery and crosses paths with Akio (Kubozuka), a Japanese man of Korean descent and with his own hidden past. Tracing the shoe's history reveals uncomfortable truths about Amiya's father and uncovers connections between her grandmother and a network of Japanese and Korean people resistant to the military regime. 'Gomusin relates to a seldom-discussed chapter of Japanese history, one that I find deeply fascinating,' Borgeot said of the film, which is based her original idea. 'It is a narrative marked by pain, but more importantly, by the quiet strength that led to reconciliation and harmony. The stories from this period continue to echo through the generations, subtly shaping the cultural and political landscape of the region today.' Generation 11 (Tokyo Vice) has boarded the movie as the Japanese production partner. Filming on the project, which will be predominantly English language, will start in spring 2026. Bryerly Long directs from her own script. The American writer, director and actor lived in Japan for a decade. 'The typical depiction of Japan is of a completely unique culture isolated from the rest of the world,' Long said. 'However, I am interested not in what is lost, but rather what is found in translation. Through Amiya's eyes, I want to offer a fresh perspective that embraces multiculturalism and how our identities today were shaped through historical events connecting people across the globe.' Before setting up her new indie, Borgeot was legal counsel for Fremantle's drama co-productions. Prior to that, she was a private practice lawyer, specialising in film and TV and working on projects including A Man Called Otto and Lewis Capaldi: How I'm Feeling Now. Yôsuke Kubozuka is represented by Independent Talent Group and Asmakina for Japan. Arrested Industries Talent reps Bryerly Long. Best of Deadline Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out? Everything We Know About Ari Aster's 'Eddington' So Far
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Japan Production Service Firm Wowow Bridge Secures First Projects, Makes Exec Hire
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways Wowow Bridge, the Tokyo-based production services firm launched by Japan's premium pay TV broadcaster Wowow last summer, has locked down its first pair of projects. The company is servicing the Tokyo shoot for the series finale of FBI: International from Universal Television, Wolf Entertainment and CBS Studios. The series finale shoot follows Wowow Bridge's extensive Japan servicing work on the recently wrapped Neuromancer, Skydance and Anonymous Content's much anticipated big-budget sci-fi drama series that will premiere globally on Apple TV+. Wowow planted its flag in the production services business last year in hopes of encouraging and profiting from a recent surge of industry interest in Japan-set live-action content. The Wowow Bridge subsidiary was set up to provide a full suite of services to international film and television projects targeting shoots in Japan. The company's decision to launch a production services arm grew from its experience as a co-producer of Max's acclaimed crime series Tokyo Vice. The show's executive producer, Kayo Washio, who serves as Wowow's head of U.S. operations and chief producer for international co-productions, acquisitions and distribution, was instrumental in bringing the show to Japan and supplying an array of on-the-ground relationships. More from The Hollywood Reporter Key to the company's play is Japan's newly launched and still modest international production incentive. The incentive offers a cash rebate of up to 50 percent on qualifying expenses, capped at 1 billion yen (about $7 million). Wowow Bridge secured incentive funding for all three of the projects it has worked on to date. Wowow's Washio was instrumental in lobbying for the creation of the Japan incentive in the months and years leading up to Tokyo Vice's first season shoot in 2022. On the executive front, Wowow Bridge says it recently brought on board veteran producer Mitsutoshi Hamazaki (Tokyo Vice, Earthquake Bird, Snake Eyes), one of the surprisingly few experienced hands in Japan with credits on international productions. Hamazaki will serve as the primary line producer for all of Wowow Bridge's Japan shoots. 'We hired Mitsutoshi because I saw firsthand how invaluable he was during Tokyo Vice Season 1,' said Washio. 'I believe he's the best line producer in Japan and together we're building the strongest possible team to support international productions.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
The Star
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
'Gannibal' review: Brutality that's surprisingly easy to digest
The world has certainly come a long way from the days when entertainment involving cannibalism was made on ultra-low budgets, shot in some "exotic" Asian locale (our own rainforests being a location choice for one notorious example with a certain ex-Bond girl), and drew hordes of the curious to cinemas. All of them looking kind of sheepish or guilty as they lined up for tickets, to be sure. If we lived in cooler climes, most of us would have been queueing in trenchcoats with upturned collars. With Gannibal, things have gone decidedly mainstream. Not only is the series Disney+'s biggest live-action hit in Japan, its country of origin, it also boasts some top-notch production values – noticeably higher than the average J-drama's – and at least one big-scale battle scene (so far). Based on Masaaki Ninomiya's cult favourite manga, which has only just been translated into English, Gannibal is adapted by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Takamase Oe (Drive My Car). It's set in remote Kuge Village where the people, or at least the members of one large and insular clan, have a peculiar custom. 'Weapons? Violence? Oh no, we're just simple farmers. My friend here with the bandaged face had a ... fruit-picking accident. He's just peachy now.' The protagonist is Daigo Agawa (Yuya Yagira, the youngest ever Cannes Best Actor winner for Nobody Knows), a disgraced city cop assigned to be Kuge's constable after the previous one goes missing. While most of the people seem welcoming, Daigo soon runs up against the formidable Goto clan and its leader-in-waiting Keisuke (Show Kasamatsu, Tokyo Vice). Rather than tiptoe around them, he wastes no time showing them that he is not to be trifled with. (At this point, I feel mortified for citing Tatsuya Fujiwara's characters in School Police and AARO as using excessive force on suspects. Compared to Daigo, those guys were pussycats.) Gannibal's first season is just chock-full of intense staredowns, challenges to one another's authority, and plain old in-your-face-ness between Daigo and the Gotos. Adding to the tension is the fact that his young daughter Mashiro (Kokone Shimizu), who has not spoken since her dad did a Very Bad Thing to a suspected paedophile, actually likes it in the village and Daigo's wife Yuki (Riho Yoshioka, the journalist from House Of Ninjas) wants him to get along with everyone so their daughter can recover from her trauma. But does Daigo listen? No. Maybe it's because early on, a mysterious, towering feral being known as "That Man" locally gave him a gash across the head that needed stitches. Or after parts of his predecessor soon turn up in assorted locations. Something is indeed rotten in Kuge, but Daigo's frequent run-ins with the Gotos and the admonishments of the other villagers wear thin pretty fast. This is the one weak aspect of the otherwise fine first season. 'Well, if you knew the twisted s*** that goes on here, holding a gun on the two of you is far from the worst of it.' The second season, which started streaming in March and had a finale on April 23, sees everyone's gloves come off. After the previous season ended on a cliffhanger, the second season hits the ground running, introducing even more unsavoury members of the Goto clan. It does not take long before the situation escalates – and by that, I mean the excrement hits a fan spinning at Ludicrous Speed, as the Gotos prove a far more formidable force than the overconfident city cops imagined. Season Two also explores the post-WWII history of the Goto clan, as flashbacks show just how its sinister (now-deceased) matriarch dramatically shook things up in the village hierarchy. It's a welcome change of pace after the scale of the brutality that precedes it, and puts viewers in a comfortable place – well, as comfortable as the material allows – to take in the remainder of the series. Sure, it's hardly subtle in hammering home its contrasts between rural and urban dwellers, or its themes of how primal impulses lurk in even the most civilised-seeming of individuals, but Gannibal certainly commands the viewer's attention – and not just because most of us here need to read the subtitles. Time to seek out those translated manga is available to stream on Disney+ Hotstar.
Muscat Daily
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Muscat Daily
Disney+ confirms season 2 of 'A Shop for Killers'
Critically acclaimed Korean action-thriller to return with original cast Seoul, South Korea – Disney+ has officially greenlit a second season of its hit action-thriller A Shop for Killers , following widespread global acclaim for its debut. Production is now underway, with a premiere slated for 2026 and a cast lineup that blends returning favourites with new international talent. Upon release, the series received rave reviews. Media agencies, fans commended lead actors Lee Dong Wook and Kim Hye Jun for their 'suspenseful, intriguing' performances. Korean outlets echoed the praise, with many highlighting its 'gripping story and high-octane direction,' and likening the character to a 'Korean John Wick .' Lee Dong Wook returns as Jin Man, the enigmatic former mercenary and mastermind behind the secretive MurderHelp, with Kim Hye Jun reprising her role as Jian, his determined niece. The pair's dynamic chemistry was central to the first season and remains at the heart of the second. Several key cast members are set to reprise their roles including Jo Han Sun as Veil, the sinister Babylon mercenary. Geum Hannah will return as the fiercely skilled Min Hye with Lee Tae Young as Brother, the loyal MurderHelp manager. Fan favourite Kim Min as Phasin, Jin Man's old ally and Jian's Muay Thai mentor is also going to return for season 2. Season two introduces new characters tied to the shadowy Babylon organisation including Hyunri, the Korean-Japanese actress acclaimed for Tokyo Vice and Eye Love You , playing Q, the leader of Babylon's East Asia unit. Masaki Okada, known for Drive My Car , takes on the role of J, Q's younger brother and co-commander. Additionally, Jung Yun Ha ( Trunk , Netflix) joins the show as Kusanagi, head of Babylon's East Asia operations With MurderHelp and Babylon preparing for an explosive confrontation, fans can expect even higher stakes, deeper backstories, and a broader global setting. Season two promises to intensify the action while exploring new layers of the show's universe. As anticipation builds, A Shop for Killers looks set to continue its reign as one of Korean drama's most thrilling international exports.
