Battle Royale remake

What the fuck are you Waps doing here? Animuspot's five forums down.

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I read that Toei wants about ~2,000,000$ for distribution rights, which doesn't seem like an unreasonable amount, considering that the budget of the film was ~4,500,000$, and it would almost certainly make a lot more than two million dollars in the States (unless it was actually banned).

No film has ever been banned in America, at least in the last decade or so. The price's unreasonable as it's a niche product, at least from the perspective of American distributors. That's likely to change with the remake, of course.

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The original BR is a fun B-movie with little substance beyond the three leads. Even the "message" of the book (Japan is losing the respect of its children and decides to do something about it) is virtually lost on the movie.

That said, a US remake is pointless and probably won't come to fruition for the reason listed above.

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I'm curious how much New Line paid for the remake rights.

They bought the remake rights to the book, not the movie.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Interrobang

I don't get it. They can't release the original movie in America, but can get rights to remake it?

The reason Battle Royale doesn't have a US release is because Toei wants an obscene amount of money for what essentially amounts to a indie flick; I'm curious how much New Line paid for the remake rights.

Really? BR was released in France a few years ago, and I don't think France has more to spend than the US regarding that kind of stuff...

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The cost has been cited as one reason. Other reason, reading this, is that Toei wants the movie to have a wide release. Both aren't feasible for smaller distributors, and big studios probably don't didn't want the controversy. Of course, that same page has Toei guys saying that the content and themes are the reason. Whatever you pick.

It's also likely that they charged higher for North American distribution, as that would garner more money than France.

How ya doing, buddy?

Controversy = sales, everyone knows this. Besides it's not like America hasn't dealt with films of similar themes, Lord of the Flies and Elephant come to mind.

No one picked it up for the same reason noone picks up jsut about every niche Japanese film: the wapanese have already downloaded it.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by kuttlas

Why the hell are they remaking this right now. The original just came out a few years ago, and even then it wasn't very good.

Different regions. Original was done in Japan, which is known for having limited money on Live Action flics. The company purchased the rights to make a remake, as they know they can make more money by remaking it with a bigger budget and catering to their regions tastes rather than just buying the rights to release the foriegn version in theaters.

The original "ring" film, I believe, led to 5 different regional remakes.

It has nothing to do with when the movie was released. Rather with believed higher profits due to releasing a regional version over a foriegn dubbed or dubbed version.

Originally Posted by VitaPup

Does anyone else think that the whole concept of this movie is rather stupid?

I didnt see the original film, but have read the book. The concept you quoted is quite spot on. Maybe the film stated that, but in the book, it was just an annual event the military used to gain information.

FELIPE NO

I think the concept of the movie is just to watch Japanese schoolgirls killing each other.

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The reason why BR only really works in Japan is because of they are a homogenic society.
Because the movie was, initially anyway, about the social effects of an economically failing country, being all-Japanese eliminated the main issue that will plague the American remake: race.
In the American remake, you're gonna have to include whites, black, asians, hispanics, etc, and that means stereotypes. Then there's the social cliques that each of these kids hangs with...those will be stereotyped too.

If you have a look at Lord of the Flies, they were all white British boys.
If you have a look at Big Brother (in Australia anyway), they're all white. This season introduced the very first asian, and she was a chick. Never mind that she was the most bogan asian chick ever seen, and a total skank bot.
Lost handles it very well, although it too borders on certain cliches of each of the different ethnicities and social stereotypes.

But you get my drift.
When you get further along BR, it was more about the breakdown of friendships because of the extreme paranoia and the instinct for survival.
In a movie that includes kids of varied ethnicities, it would be very difficult NOT to bring up extreme racial prejudice as a reason to kill the other person.
The other main reason for a kill in the movie would be because of social clique.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

The New York Times' website had an article on the remake and the reaction following Variety's announcement of the news. It's definitely a must-read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/mo...=1&oref=slogin

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As it turns out, the hubbub over the remake was at least slightly premature. New Line hasn't yet purchased the remake rights. But it is currently going through the chain of title, the final step in securing the rights, with an eye toward making a deal with the producers Roy Lee, founder of Vertigo Entertainment and the reigning king of the Asian remake, and Neal Moritz, a producer of the "Fast and the Furious" films.

A chain of title mistake on "The Dukes of Hazzard" cost Warner Brothers, New Line's sister studio, $17.5 million; and the legal issues are especially complex with a property like "Battle Royale," a film inspired by a novel and inspiring a manga series, with five years' worth of ancillary products.

Mr. Lee said matters became further complicated when the Variety report upset the people at Toei, the Japanese film company that owns the original. "They were worried that maybe somebody connected with the film hadn't been contacted about the deal yet," he said.

. . .

Though Mr. Lee declined to discuss details of their plans, he did offer a few hints. The remake will still be about high school students. "We could make them a bunch of prisoners from jail taken to an island," he said, "but that would be pointless." It will take place in the United States, unlike Mr. Lee's remake of "The Grudge," which, like the original, was filmed in Japan.

The screenplay will draw as much from the novel as from the movie. And it won't be a PG film, or even PG-13. "If the original were put in front of an MPAA board, it would get an NC-17," Mr. Lee said. "So the remake is going to be at least an R."

Mr. Lee's response to critics of a "Battle Royale" remake? "I'm a fan of the original film," he said. "I would never want to make a movie that I thought was bad."

. . .

He'd never want to make a bad movie, huh? Please, Mr. Lee, explain The Grudge.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

while i would love to see an american BR, it would spark unneccesary racial tension like Tama suggested and another whole guns/youth argument ala Columbine. in any case, BR the original movie is still one of my favorites and hopefully it will not be desecrated like other americanized asian films

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by soulsteelgray

He'd never want to make a bad movie, huh? Please, Mr. Lee, explain The Grudge.

I don't know if the grudge was base on a book but I know that the original movie sucked really bad, so making a remake from a really bad movie can't really result in something better...

How ya doing, buddy?

The Grudge wasn't good, but it did have some freaky scenes in it. Well, one or two. I do remember being pretty creeped out for a few nights afterward. I still think The Ring is the best J-Horror remake so far. Now, Ring 2 ...I want to forget that ever happened.

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Well, at least it's guaranteed to suck. That's better than having some hope of a decent movie only to have that dashed away in an instant. Good ol' america, you never disappoint.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Did anyone like BR2? I personally thought there were okay parts but I was falling asleep. Br1 I thought was wicked and if there was a remake, id go see it, even if it sucked, just for the hell of it.

FELIPE NO

BR2 was awful. Entertaining, but awful and a disappointment. I was actually really sad to see they dropped the ball on it.

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man...i remember watching the part when
SPOILER WARNING (i dont know how to do the spoiler tag)
edit: nvm figured it out

Spoiler:

When the running chick killed the guy who wanted to screw her...we were like OMG SHE"S STABBING HIS CROTCH...so painful to watch...

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by dhsu87

while i would love to see an american BR, it would spark unneccesary racial tension like Tama suggested and another whole guns/youth argument ala Columbine. in any case, BR the original movie is still one of my favorites and hopefully it will not be desecrated like other americanized asian films

The film has nothing to do with race at all, so they're rewriting the entire script now with a racial subplot? Even if they did, when has any film had such an influence as to provoke school shootings and racial tension? I think it would be a filmmaker's dream to have that kind of power.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I vote Arnold Schwarzenegger as Kitano.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I was gonna say "So I guess they got bored of making movies out of comic books then" but then I remembered that Battle Royale is also in comic book form. ._>

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Originally Posted by XSO

I was gonna say "So I guess they got bored of making movies out of comic books then" but then I remembered that Battle Royale is also in comic book form. ._>

Well, it's not all that uncommon to find a novel being adapted into a manga in Japan. The manga came before the movie did anyways.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Tascar

I vote Arnold Schwarzenegger as Kitano.

lol jokes. Kitano was such a weird character.

Spoiler:

Espcially at the end when he was shot like 10 times and then got up to pick up his cell phone

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Now that I think about, this remake could actually be pretty decent if they actually follow the book more closely. You know, not just "lol island with kids killing each other", but character development and attachment.


oh wai- this is american film. nvm

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Vampiro

Now that I think about, this remake could actually be pretty decent if they actually follow the book more closely. You know, not just "lol island with kids killing each other", but character development and attachment.


oh wai- this is american film. nvm

mmm if they do that, it could get a bit long. lol i loved...yeah im spoiling stuff again lol

Spoiler:

how the veteran guy (forgot his name) who saved shugo and gf ended up saying his dad was a cook, a doctor and a fisherman in the movie. in the book i think it was only a doctor

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by BlueEdge

mmm if they do that, it could get a bit long. lol i loved...yeah im spoiling stuff again lol

Meh, the average length these days is about two hours, closer to three for movies that you know will be decent. In that time, you could put a lot of development into the film. You just have to know how to cut down conversations and what to exclude.

Like I said though, American movies are generally crap. They're probably going to make the remake shot for shot, just with american kids and more explosions. Which is a BIG shame since there's a lot they can use and a really excellent story they can tell... that, you know, actually means something.

But no one goes to the movies for shit like that anyways

Jam it back in, in the dark.

This was one of the greatest movies I seen. I have also yet to see the second one.

How ya doing, buddy?