Kitano Takeshi: Last News

Kadokawa has picked up all rights to “Kubi,” the upcoming film by Kitano Takeshi which will have its premiere out of competition in Cannes. Kadokawa will handle both the international sales and the Japanese commercial release. The film depicts the historical ‘Honno-ji Incident’ from 1582, when a key vassal of Oda Nobunaga rose in revolt and caused his master to commit hara-kiri in Kyoto. The reasons for the revolt and whether Akechi Mitsuhide was really the ringleader have been debated ever since.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Miracle: Letters to the President,” directed by Lee Jang-hoon, was Saturday named as the best film winner at the Far East Film Festival in Italy’s Udine, following an audience poll. The South Korean-made film was described by festival organizers as “a sweet-natured hymn to the power of dreams.” Second and third places belonged to Chinese-produced pictures Li Ruijun’s “Return to Dust” and Xing Wenxiong’s “To Cool to Kill,” respectively.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentIconic Japanese actor and director Kitano Takeshi has filed suit against Bandai Namco Arts, a member of the Bandai Namco media group, for copyright violation, the Daily Shincho paper revealed in its latest issue, which hit newsstands on Thursday.According to the exclusive report, which has been circulated widely in the Japanese media, Kitano made the complaint to the Tokyo District Court on Feb. 10 of this year, filing in his own name as the plaintiff.Bandai’s relationship with Kitano goes back to the start of his three-decade career as a director, with the company both investing in most of his films and distributing them on physical media.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefKamiya Naoki has been named as new director of programming at Tokyo Filmex, a Tokyo-based festival with a strong focus on Japanese and Asian independent cinema. This year’s Filmex will run Oct.

Variety is picking up on a story circulating in Japan that originated from local magazine Josei Jishin that says actor/director Kitano Takeshi will be making a samurai film, titled “Neck,” for his next filmmaking effort. The film is expected to be his final directorial effort and is based on his novel “Kubi” published in 2019.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentA new Netflix movie has been announced based on the early career of comedian and film director Kitano Takeshi.Titled “Asakusa Kid,” the film is based on a memoir of the same title written by Kitano.