I know this isn’t necessarily in my wheelhouse, but neither is horror which I still promote, so I’ll be damned if I pass up an opportunity to pitch one of the most delightful films I’ve seen this year, Haruki Kadokawa’s family adventure, Rex. The film’s announcements came out recently with its upcoming screening at The Metrograph in December from Kani Releasing, and it was just in the past day from this post that the official poster made its online debut.
To this, we now have a trailer to mark the occasion, and you can now view both assets below along with the language. It’s a delightful holiday film, and I think anyone with a soul can, and should enjoy it. Read on:
Ahead of the film’s theatrical release next month, Kani Releasing has unveiled the trailer for the newly remastered Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story, the shockingly overlooked 1993 Christmas dinosaur comedy. The film, remastered by Kadokawa Pictures, begins its theatrical release on Friday, December 11 at New York’s Metrograph—marking its first-ever theatrical release in North America—with a multi-city limited rollout continuing into 2027.
Released in Japan two weeks before Jurassic Park and directed by storied mogul and industry disruptor Haruki Kadokawa, Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story emerges from amber today as an exemplar of a bygone era of Japanese blockbusters. It follows Chie (actress and singer Yumi Adachi), the young daughter of a palaeontologist who soon befriends an adorable T-Rex. As everyone seeks to exploit the dino-discovery for profit, the pair soon find themselves on the run from shady men in black and profiteers, forcing Rex to act and model for endless advertisements and merchandise, a pointed mirror to the film’s actual promotional campaign that spanned toys, a manga by the celebrated artist group CLAMP, and songs—even going so far as to cement the popularity of Kentucky Fried Chicken as a de facto Christmas tradition in Japan. Featuring expressive creature effects by Italian special effects master Carlo Rambaldi (Alien, E.T., Possession), Rex is as adorable as it is unhinged, functioning as both a wholesome Holiday crowd-pleaser and a cult curio in the making.
A controversial figure in Japanese cinema, business mogul Haruki Kadokawa inherited his father’s eponymous publishing company and promptly set out to position Kadokawa as a media giant looming large on the Japanese pop culture of the 1980s. An exuberant character, he pioneered a new (now commonplace) approach to releasing and marketing films, dubbed the “media mix.” This entailed positioning films in a wider ecosystem of crossmedia merchandising that includes books, music, and, eventually, its own industrial system of ready-made stars named “idols.”
Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story, one of Kadokawa’s own directorial efforts, is often described as the apotheosis of the company’s approach to blockbuster filmmaking. Its release was infamously interrupted when Kadokawa was arrested for cocaine smuggling in 1993, leading him to resign from the company.
Taking advantage of the collapsing studio system and Kadokawa’s rich trove of literary IPs, Kadokawa entered film production with 1976’s The Inugami Family, directed by Kon Ichikawa and based on a novel by Seishi Yokomizo. This was followed by blockbusters Proof of the Man (1977), the first Japanese film shot in New York, and Virus (1980), the most expensive Japanese production of its time—all based on novels. 1981’s Sailor Suit and Machine Gun, directed by Shinji Somai, marked Kadokawa’s shift towards the idol system. Successful collaborations with directors including Nobuhiko Obayashi (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time), Kinji Fukasaku (The Fall Guy), Yasuharu Hasebe (Fossilized Wilderness), Yoshimitsu Morita (Main Theme), and Shinichiro Sawai (W’s Tragedy) also helped diversify the company’s portfolio.
Accompanying the run of Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story, Metrograph will present Dinosauria, a series of beloved dinosaur cinema, running December 11 to January 3. Following the New York opening, Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story will expand to Atlanta, Austin, Florida, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, and more, with theatrical engagements planned into 2027. More details can be found here.
