All articles by Mamiko Kawamoto
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Kadokawa ready for Hong Kong HQ launch
Japan's leading media group, Kadokawa Holdings, is to open its newheadquarters in China in August.Hong Kong-based Kadokawa Holdings China will sell the group's mediacontents and handle rights deals across the whole of China. The operation is backed by a $1.29m (Y140m) capital investment fromKadokawa Holdings.The group owns Japanese original Ring ...
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Sumitomo snaps up Japan's AMC Theatres
Japanese film conglomerate SumitomoCorporation has paid a reported $48m for AMC Theatres Japan, which hascurrently five multiplexes nationwide. Sumitomo already owns 11multiplexes across Japan through the United Cinemas exhibitor brand.Sumitomo has numerous filminterests. It owns leading indie distributor and production company Asmik AceEntertainment together with Kadokawa Shoten Publishing and other ...
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Tropical Malady scoops Grand Prize at fifth FILMeX festival in Tokyo
TropicalMalady - this year's Cannes special jury prize winner, has won the Grand Prizeat the fifth edition of the FILMeX festival in Tokyo.Director Apichatpong Weerasethakulwon a $9,000 cash prize (Y1m) for the second time, after winning the prize withBlissfully Yours in 2002.The Special Jury Prize'Kodak Vision Award (with a purse ...
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Tropical Malady scoops Grand Prize at fifth FILMeX festival in Tokyo
TropicalMalady - this year's Cannes special jury prize winner, has won the Grand Prizeat the fifth edition of the FILMeX festival in Tokyo.Director Apichatpong Weerasethakulwon a $9,000 cash prize (Y1m) for the second time, after winning the prize withBlissfully Yours in 2002.The Special Jury Prize"Kodak Vision Award (with a purse ...
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Canary to sing at Tokyo FILMeX opening
The Tokyo FILMeX festival (Nov20-28) has announced its line-up for its fifth edition, with a competitionsection presenting ten features from young Asian directors.The festival's opening film will be Japanesedirector Akihiko Shinota's Canary, which receives its world premiere atTokyo FILMeX. The director of Harmful Insect, Shiota's latest featuredepicts the story of ...
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Steamboy under pressure on Japanese debut
Katsuhiro Otomo's long-awaited new animation Steamboy- which cost a record-breaking $22m (Y2.4bn) to make - grossed a weak $2.2m on its three-day opening weekend fromJuly 17 on 262 screens nationwide.With the summer holiday just kicking off, distributor Tohonow expects Steamboy to earn around $13.9 million.By comparison Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away ...
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Euro buyers swoop for Japanese samurai action feature
European buyers have snapped up Japanese samurai action feature Azumi.Buyers include CTV in France, Optimum Releasing in the UK, Manga Films in Spain, Lusomundo in Portugal, A Films in Benelux, Laser Paradise in Germany and Smile/Noble Entertainment in Scandinavia. The film has also been popular among Asian buyers and has ...
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Japanese studio draws up mass market animation plans
Spurred onby the success of rival Studio Ghibli's Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, Japan's Toei Animation hasbegun to shift its emphasis away from kid-targeted TV fare to produce moreanimation features aimed at a wide audience.Japan'soldest animation production and distribution house has produced two animatedfilms for a wide release on over ...
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Japan's Movie Television files for bankruptcy protection
Japan's Movie Television, a leading seller of Hollywood films and TV programmes to Japanese TV, has filed for protection from its creditors after its debts climbed to $345m (Y38bn) at the end of January.Launched in 1984, Movie Television acquires broadcasting rights to TV series and films from five major studios ...
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Grudge remake sold to 27 territories
The Grudge, Ghost House Pictures' English-language remake of the Japanese hit horror Ju-On, has been sold to 27 territories including North America (Columbia Pictures), Czech/Slovakia (AQS), Greece (Audiovisual), Russia (Central Partner), Germany (Constantin), Benelux (Dutch Dreamwork), Scandinavia (Egmont), Portugal (LNK), France (Metropolitain), Spain (Planeta), Iceland (Sam Film), Poland (Vision), Bulgaria/Romania/Ex-Yugoslavia ...
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Top Japanese broadcaster unveils film ambitions
Japan's leading TV broadcaster Fuji TV is aggressively expanding its business into film production and foreign film acquisitions.This summer, Fuji TV enjoyed enormous box office success with Bayside Shakedown Two: The Movie, which grossed $142.5m at the domestic box office -setting an all-time biggest box office record for Japanese live-action ...
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Japan's Asmik Ace teams up for new video label
Leading Japanese independent film distributor Asmik Ace Entertainment, publisher Kadokawa Shoten Publishing and Kadokawa Holdings and have jointly launched a video & DVD distribution unit.With capital of $83,000 (Yen 10m) funded entirely by Kadokawa Holdings, Kadokawa Entertainment will distribute video and DVDs of all the films and TV programmes produced ...
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Nippon Herald to slash Hollywood acquisitions
Leading Japanese independent distributor Nippon Herald plans to reduce its acquisition of major Hollywood titles to improve revenues in its film distribution business.This year, the company recorded an $11.8m loss in operating profit in the half year from April to September. The main cause of the decline was ...
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Japan acts to boost its international film profile
Encouraged by recent Hollywood interest in Japanese films such as The Ring and Spirited Away, the Japanese government is looking to further raise the profile of local films abroad.Japan's External Trade Organization (Jetro) plans to assist four Japanese film companies setting up sales booths at next year's AFM, as well ...
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Gaga blames losses on bad timing
Japanese distributor Gaga Communications has blamed its release strategy for Hollywood films as one of the reasons for cutting its earnings forecast earlier this month. At the beginning of August, Gaga said it would post a consolidated net loss of $12.3m (Y1.47b) for the financial year ending September 31. The ...
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Japanese horror takes Asian box office by storm
Japanese hit horror The Grudge (Ju-on) is repeating its box office success across Asia. In Hong Kong, the horror has grossed $750,000 since its release on May 29 on 17 screens, while in Singapore it has taken $650,000 from 23 screens since June 12. The Grudge (pictured), has achieved ...
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Rings fever hits Japan early
Japanese distributor Nippon Herald Films has sold a record number of advanced tickets to The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King - even though it does not open in Japan until Spring 2004.13,645 advanced tickets were sold on August 2 in nine key cities for the third ...
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Matrix Reloaded crosses Japanese milestone
The Matrix Reloaded has crossed the symbolic Y10bn ($83.3m) mark at the Japanese box office following its release on June 7 on 631 screens nationwide. Warner Bros Pictures Japan is expecting the film to take $91.6 (Y11b) during its first run which ends on August 15. Only a handful of ...
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Tokyo names Gong Li as head of jury
Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, the new director-general of the Tokyo International Film Festival (Nov 1-9), has named Chinese actress Gong Li (Breaking The Silence, The Emperor And The Assassin, Temptress Moon) as the jury chairman for the festival's 16th edition. Kadokawa has also unveiled Yoshimitsu Morita's new drama Asura No Gotoku (Like ...
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Buyers rush to acquire Grudge sequel
The Grudge 2, the sequel to Japanese hit horror The Grudge (Juon), was sold to France, Germany, Spain, Hong Kong, Korea and Thailand at Cannes this year, while over 18 other countries, including the US, are in negotiations. The Grudge was sold to over 30 territories, including the US where ...