Shinji Higuchi's Submersion of Japan 2006
Verfasst: Do 07.07.2005, 19:14
Von MonsterZero:
Toho announces most ambitious sci-fi film to date, a remake of 1973's "Submersion of Japan"
Toho Company Ltd. announced earlier this week that it is remaking the 1973 film "Nippon chinbotsu" ("Submersion of Japan"), in turn based on the best-selling novel by Sakyo Komatsu ("Matango", "ESPY", "Bye Bye Jupiter"). The film begins shooting in August for a summer 2006 release, and is budgeted at 2 billion yen ($17.8 million U.S.), making it the most expensive SFX film in Japanese history.
The film is directed by Shinji Higuchi, acclaimed special effects director for Heisei Gamera series, who made his feature film directorial debut with the recent hit SFX alternate history film "Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean". Although the opportunity came by chance for director Higuchi, taking on this project is a lifelong dream he didn\'t hesitate to accept. He recalls seeing the original film with his father 30 years ago, and has never forgotten the excitement and trembling he felt at the time.
Producer Kazuya Hamana ("Crossfire", "Onmyoji") said that after 32 years, the time was right to bring this classic back to the big screen in a new way. "Various disasters and events have occurred throughout Japan recently, and indeed the whole world. The extraordinary natural phenomenon such as recent Sumatra tsunami and Niigata Prefecture Nakagoshi earthquakes... these events seem to happen one after another. Nature is cruel and furious. It is because of these disasters and a desire to reflect how people struggle through these events that we decided it was time for a remake. The original film was 30 years ahead of its time."
Veteran actor Koji Yakusho stars ("Cure", "Shall We Dance?", "Charisma", "Lorelei", "Memoirs of a Geisha") fills the role of Submarine Pilot Onodera Toshio, played in the previous production by Hiroshi Fujioka of the Masked Rider series. Kou Shibasaki (Mitsuko Souma girl #11 in "Battle Royale", "Kakashi") co-stars as the heroine rescue soldier.
In 1973, "Nippon chinbotsu" was budgeted at 500 million yen, one of Toho\'s most expensive pictures. With the new budget set at 2 billion yen, the team plans to utilize a great deal of real world modern technology, including the deep-sea submersible research vessel, Shinkai 6500. A good portion of the budget will go towards producing state-of-the art special effects such as a series of 8.0+ earthquakes, major volcano eruptions, and the sinking of a large portion of the Japanese archipelago. In the story, when it becomes clear that "X Day" is inevitable, the government begins to evacuate the remaining populace to take shelter in various foreign countries. It becomes a race against time to avoid an unprecedented giant tsunami generated by the quakes.
Toho announces most ambitious sci-fi film to date, a remake of 1973's "Submersion of Japan"
Toho Company Ltd. announced earlier this week that it is remaking the 1973 film "Nippon chinbotsu" ("Submersion of Japan"), in turn based on the best-selling novel by Sakyo Komatsu ("Matango", "ESPY", "Bye Bye Jupiter"). The film begins shooting in August for a summer 2006 release, and is budgeted at 2 billion yen ($17.8 million U.S.), making it the most expensive SFX film in Japanese history.
The film is directed by Shinji Higuchi, acclaimed special effects director for Heisei Gamera series, who made his feature film directorial debut with the recent hit SFX alternate history film "Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean". Although the opportunity came by chance for director Higuchi, taking on this project is a lifelong dream he didn\'t hesitate to accept. He recalls seeing the original film with his father 30 years ago, and has never forgotten the excitement and trembling he felt at the time.
Producer Kazuya Hamana ("Crossfire", "Onmyoji") said that after 32 years, the time was right to bring this classic back to the big screen in a new way. "Various disasters and events have occurred throughout Japan recently, and indeed the whole world. The extraordinary natural phenomenon such as recent Sumatra tsunami and Niigata Prefecture Nakagoshi earthquakes... these events seem to happen one after another. Nature is cruel and furious. It is because of these disasters and a desire to reflect how people struggle through these events that we decided it was time for a remake. The original film was 30 years ahead of its time."
Veteran actor Koji Yakusho stars ("Cure", "Shall We Dance?", "Charisma", "Lorelei", "Memoirs of a Geisha") fills the role of Submarine Pilot Onodera Toshio, played in the previous production by Hiroshi Fujioka of the Masked Rider series. Kou Shibasaki (Mitsuko Souma girl #11 in "Battle Royale", "Kakashi") co-stars as the heroine rescue soldier.
In 1973, "Nippon chinbotsu" was budgeted at 500 million yen, one of Toho\'s most expensive pictures. With the new budget set at 2 billion yen, the team plans to utilize a great deal of real world modern technology, including the deep-sea submersible research vessel, Shinkai 6500. A good portion of the budget will go towards producing state-of-the art special effects such as a series of 8.0+ earthquakes, major volcano eruptions, and the sinking of a large portion of the Japanese archipelago. In the story, when it becomes clear that "X Day" is inevitable, the government begins to evacuate the remaining populace to take shelter in various foreign countries. It becomes a race against time to avoid an unprecedented giant tsunami generated by the quakes.
