"Taiheiyou no Kiseki" opens at almost 400 million yen
Mon, February 14, 2011 (11:17am EST)
The #1 movie at the box office this past holiday weekend was Hideyuki Hirayama's "Taiheiyou no Kiseki: Fox to Yobareta Otoko," starring actor Yutaka Takenouchi. The film opened on Friday on 300 screens nationwide and brought in more than 330,000 viewers, earning slightly more than 390 million yen.
The film unseated "GANTZ" from the top spot, after the latter had ranked #1 for two weeks in a row. It also beat out the "Ashita no Joe" movie (starring Tomohisa Yamashita), which opened at #3. In any case, the big winner of the weekend was Toho, the distributor for all three of those films.
"Taiheiyou no Kiseki" is about the Japanese captain Sakae Oba, who headed the last remaining Japanese unit in the Battle of Saipan against the American forces during World War II. Hirayama co-directed the film with Cellin Gluck, though they each filmed their parts separately - Hirayama was in charge of the Japanese side, while Gluck took care of the American side.
Besides Takenouchi, the film's cast includes Toshiaki Karasawa, Mao Inoue, and Takayuki Yamada. The main U.S. soldiers were played by Sean McGowan, Daniel Baldwin, and Treat Williams.
According to a survey conducted online and on mobile phones, it is estimated that 62% of the opening weekend audience was male. Older generations made up the bulk of the viewers, with 32.2% in their 50s and 27% in their 40s.
The movie, also known under the English title "Oba: The Last Samurai," has already secured distribution in England, Ireland, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Toho is currently negotiating for distribution in many other countries, including France, Belgium, and The Netherlands.
Charts: EXILE, Yusuke, Perfume
Wed, February 16, 2011 (1:23pm EST)
EXILE's latest single "Each Other's Way ~Tabi no Tochuu~" was #1 on the charts this week, with close to 101,000 copies sold. This is the group's 10th number-one single of their career.
New singles from RADWIMPS and Kana Nishino took the #2 and #3 spots, while S/mileage's new song ranked at #5.
At #6 was the band Kuroyume, whose last appearance in the top ten was in 1998, before they went on hiatus in 1999. The band was also the subject of a tribute album called "kungfu THE BORDER LINE" released this past week, and that ranked #6 as well on the album charts.
SCANDAL and YGA had the only other new singles in the top ten, ranking at #7 and #10.
In albums, Yusuke's "Ano... Yume Motemasu Kedo" sold a little under 16,000 copies, but it was enough to hang onto the #1 seat for a second week. Alice Nine (#3), The Yatou (#5), the Kuroyume tribute album (#6), and Akihiro Namba (#8) also entered the top ten.
Meanwhile, Perfume had the top-selling DVD of the week with their recording of their Tokyo Dome concert last November, amounting to about 70,000 copies sold. This is their 4th consecutive DVD to reach #1 on the overall rankings, making them the first female group to achieve a streak of that length. They were previously tied with Morning Musume for the record. However, if all video releases are counted (not only DVDs), SPEED also completed a streak of four number-ones in 2000.
hah?? yutaka ke nie??? ingat kan pelakon tua mane..
seb baik baca sampai abis~~~ sgt2 lain...siyes x kenal...
agaknya mcm nie kot muka die kalo berumur *errr, skrg pun dah berumur kan*
Charts: AKB48, Yuzu, Inaba Koshi
Posted on February 23, 2011 by tokyograph
As reported earlier, idol group AKB48 charted at #1 on the weekly single rankings, selling 942,000 copies of their latest release, “Sakura no Ki ni Narou.” That qualifies them for the 6th highest first-week sales in history. It also gives them a streak of seven consecutive chart-toppers to tie them with Pink Lady for the record among female groups.
All of the top ten singles this week were new releases, though their sales numbers paled in comparison to AKB48's. The closest was Tegomass’ “Aoi Bench” cover, selling close to 84,000 copies.
AKB48 – Sakura no Ki ni Narou – 942,479
Tegomass – Aoi Bench – 83,715
Kobukuro – Blue Bird – 58,928
AAA – Daiji na Koto – 27,297
Yoshii Kazuya – LOVE & PEACE – 24,062
ONE OK ROCK – Answer Is Near – 23,262
Kalafina – Magia – 22,335
KREVA – Idome – 13,597
Inazuma All-Stars – Mata ne... no Kisetsu – 12,337
Hikasa Yoko, Yukana, Shimoda Asami, Hanazawa Kana, Inoue Marina – Super Stream – 10,755
On the album rankings, the duo Yuzu achieved their 10th #1 album with “2 -NI-,” at just over 90,000 copies sold. Like the single charts, a wave of new releases flooded in this week, with only KARA’s album remaining in the top ten from the previous week.
Yuzu – 2 -NI- – 90,098
AAA – Buzz Communication – 50,701
Aqua Timez – Carpe Diem – 20,368
DEEP – LOVE STORY – 14,409
Galileo Galilei – Parade – 13,894
SUPER JUNIOR – SUPER JUNIOR JAPAN LIMITED SPECIAL EDITION -SUPER SHOW 3 Kaisai Kinenban- – 12,851
L'Arc~en~Ciel – TWENITY 2000-2010 – 12,518
KARA – Girl's Talk – 12,084
LGYankees – BARIBARI LGYankees – 11,981
MAY'S – Cruising – 11,653
At #18 was “TAKE YOUR PICK,” the collaborative album between Larry Carlton and B'z member Matsumoto Takahiro that won for Best Pop Instrumental Album at the Grammy Awards last week. Originally released in May of last year, the album had fallen outside the Top 300 until the Grammy win reignited interest, shooting it back into the Top 20.
In music DVDs and BDs, the other half of B’z, Inaba Koshi, ranked #1 overall in both categories with his solo concert recording “Koshi Inaba LIVE 2010 ~enII~.” He is the first male solo artist to top both the DVD and BD rankings in the same week, though he also previously accomplished the feat in August of last year as part of B’z. The DVD version sold 27,000 copies, while the BD version added another 21,000 copies to that.
Another notable achievement this week came at the hands of the anime series “K-On!!” The BD of the show’s 8th volume sold 26,000 copies to top the overall BD chart. Between the 7 volumes of the anime’s first season and the 8 currently released volumes of the second season, the franchise has now sold 520,000 Blu-ray Discs in total. This makes it the first anime series to sell half a million BDs.
Beat Takeshi presents 20th Tokyo Sports Film Awards, honors his own “Outrage”
Posted on February 28, 2011 by tokyograph
The ceremony for the 20th Tokyo Sports Film Award and the 11th Beat Takeshi Entertainment Award was held on Sunday. Kitano Takeshi, who serves as the head judge for both, named his own “Outrage” as Best Picture, himself as Best Director, cast members Ishibashi Renji and Shiina Kippei as Best Supporting Actors, and Kitamura Soichi as Best Newcomer (despite decades of experience).
Young actress Naka Riisa, who has only won Best Newcomer in other movie awards, was given Best Actress for her roles in “Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo” and “Zebraman: Zebra City no Gyakushu.”
Best Picture: “Outrage”
Best Director: Kitano Takeshi (“Outrage”)
Best Actor: Toyokawa Etsushi (“Hisshiken Torisashi”)
Best Actress: Naka Riisa (“Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo,” “Zebraman: Zebra City no Gyakushu”)
Best Supporting Actor: Ishibashi Renji; Shiina Kippei (“Outrage”)
Best Newcomer: Kitamura Soichi (“Outrage”)
Best Supporting Actress: Natsukawa Yui (“Kokou no Mesu”)
Best Foreign Film: “District 9?
Special Award: “Zatoichi THE LAST”
Tokyo Sports Film Award 20th Anniversary Award: Koreeda Hirokazu
The Beat Takeshi Entertainment Award winners were:
Popularity Award: AKB48; Shoujo Jidai; KARA
Japanese Entertainment Award: Peace; Black Mayonnaise; Slim Club
Special Award: Sawajiri Erika and her mother Lila; cameraman Watanabe Yoichi
Keanu's "47 Ronin" has A-List Japanese Cast
March 02, 2011
It's finally official. Rumors and sketchy reports of a Hollywood project starring Keanu Reeves as a medieval samurai were confirmed yesterday by a formal press conference and cast announcement in London. To be directed by Carl Rinsch and with a budget reported at $170-200 million, "47 Ronin" is an adaptation of the famous Chushingura story of samurai loyalty and revenge based around real events that took place in the early 1700s. The story has been adapted countless times for stage, TV and the big screen but never before in English.
The choice of Reeves (46) for the lead role as a Japanese warrior has many people scratching their heads, but the latest report says his character Kai will be "half-Japanese, half-British." And he will have some seriously heavyweight Japanese acting support. Named to the cast yesterday were (left to right):
Asano Tadanobu (37), star of "Mongol" and Miike Takashi's "Ichi the Killer," who has a couple of other Hollywood projects coming up - a supporting role in "Thor" and "Battleship". He will play shogunate official Kira Yoshinaka;
Kikuchi Rinko (30), nominated for an Oscar for her supporting role in "Babel." She has the role of the mysterious lady Mizuki who helps Kira in his quest for power;
Sanada Hiroyuki (50), best known overseas for his roles in "The Last Samurai," "Speed Racer" and the final season of "Lost." He will play the key role of chief samurai Oishi Kuranosuke;
Shibasaki Kou (29), who made her movie debut in 2000 in Fukasaku Kinji's acclaimed "Battle Royale." Shibasaki said she is "so excited" to play Reeve's love interest Mika, the daughter of samurai Asano Naganori.
Rinsch caught the attention of movie studios with the storytelling of his commercials, such as the short sci-fi film "The Gift," and at one point he was named to direct a prequel to Ridley Scott's "Alien." More recently Universal Studios have signed him to follow up his debut on the Reeves feature with a remake of "Creature From the Black Lagoon." Speaking yesterday about 47 Ronin, he said, "What drew me to it were the universal themes. Love, hate, revenge, these are ideas that translate all over the world. This take is so different, it’s about visualising the dream of Japan from a Western view. Instead of it being a historic epic we wanted to turn it into a fantasy." Shooting starts March 14 in Hungary and will later move to Shepperton Studios in the UK, with unspecified plans to also shoot in Japan. The movie will be in 3D and has a release date of November, 2012.
Japan Zone eagerly awaits the movie's release for one other reason - we were chosen by the 47 Ronin production team to supply a variety of costume items for the movie. So if you want to be seen in the same footwear as Keanu Reeves and Co., visit our Japan Store!
Post time 18-2-2011 12:49 AM
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