This is really weird news. Those of you familiar with the work of director Takashi Miike will know what I mean.


From Helsinki International Film Festival site
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Japan’s Kadokawa Pictures is to remake the 1968 Yoshiyuki Kuroda hit The Big Spook War (Yokai Daisenso) with director Takashi Miike at the helm.

Announcing the film at the Kadokawa Daei Studio, Kadokawa president Tsuguhiko Kadokawa said it was the first instalment in a series that will "rival Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings in its worldwide appeal."

In the original film a European vampire possesses the spirit of a Japanese Lord, inspiring local ghosts and goblins to go on the attack. The new film, however, promises to be a departure. The spook defying hero will be played by eleven-year-old Ryunosuke Kamiki, while action legend Bunta Sugawara will play his grandfather and popular TV talent Chiaki Kuriyama will play a goblin working for the forces of evil.

Miike, the enfant terrible of the Japanese film industry, dealt with a similar subject matter in this year’s superhero parody Zebraman and his 2002 horror send-up The Happiness of the Katakuris.

The development team for the film includes 82-year -old Shigeru Mizu, the artist responsible for the comic on which the original film was based. Release is scheduled for next August.

The Big Spook War is the first film to be announced by Kadokawa Pictures, the new company formed in April by the merger between the Kadokawa parent company’s film production arms and its Daiei subsidiary.

Founded in 1942, the Daiei studio was a major industry force in the 1950s and 1960s, responsible for Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon and the Zatoichi series, among many others. The company went bankrupt in 1971, but in 1974 came under the corporate umbrella of the Tokuma Shoten Publishing company. In November of 2002, Kadokawa purchased Daiei from Tokuma, together with its 1,600 film library, and merged it with its film division under the name Kadokawa Daiei, now changed to Kadokawa Pictures.

In addition to The Big Spook War, Kadokawa is also planning New G.I. Samurai -- a remake of a 1979 film by Mitsumasa Saito about a squadron of Self Defense Force soldiers who time travel back to 16th century Japan (see separate story on ScreenDaily.com) - and new instalment of the studio’s signature Gamera series about a giant flying turtle.

- Screen Daily 7.9.2004

Japanese official now open:
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Poor publicity don't you think?

I'd forgotten about it as well...  for a film that was supposedly going to rival Harry Potter they are light years behind in knowing how to build up public anticipation. And the site is all in Japanese   ???

Well let's hope we get to see it before we forget about it a second time   

Thanks..

Profile added.



zork,  if you know of any other Japanese boy actors that have been in Japanese films which have been released internationally please let us know so we can add profiles for them.

Having just attended the American premiere, I can assure all that neither Harry Potter nor The Lord of the Rings series have anything to worry about in terms of box office competition.

Ryunosuke Kamiki is very appealing and is in nearly the whole film, but the film itself would be classified in the USA as a cult item.

From what little I have learned reading some reviews, it appears this film will be regarded highest by those who have some familiarity with Japanese folklore. Those without such a background (like me  ) may find the story to be confusing and underdeveloped in spots.

Overall still a 6 or 7 in my book.

P.S. The English title is The Great Yokai War

In my experience, all of director Miike's films have been very confusing and weird, so I'm not surprised by your reaction, Zab. In terms of his other films, I wouldn't call their story "underdeveloped," but they do have that characteristic Japanese eliptical style of storytelling, very similar to Yumeno, which we saw in Montreal this year,

In the few cases where he has worked with kids, I thought Miike was pretty good at directing them to get a realistic performance from them. I still look forward to this one.

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I didn't see it as being a correction, just a helpful addendum. 'The Great Yokai War' doesn't get a result on IMBd search whereas 'The Big Spook War' does.

Thank you both