The movie that Japan’s best performers fought to be in. A movie that entertains audiences in the most imaginative and unimaginable way. Providing enough fun for the universe to burst into laughter!
Anyone following director Miike Takashi’s movement in the last several years eventually came across news of what would have been HIS take on post WWII yakuza crime tale, The Outsider. By 2013, it was financed and ready to roll cameras in the following year when Miike left as well as its chosen actor at the time and having since reshaped itself a few years later with Martin Zandvliet at the helm for lead actor Jared Leto, The Outsider is now a forthcoming reality with a March 9 release exclusively on Netflix.
The new period crime thriller sees Leto starring as a American solider imprisoned by the Japanese during World War 2. When he succeeds in escaping with the help of his Yakuza cellmate, his freedom lures him into the dangerous criminal underworld, leaving him obligated and in service of the Yakuza in order to earn their respect amd repay his debt. Bastille Day scribe Andrew Baldwin penned the script which joins Leto with a raft of talent listing Emile Hirsch and Ichi The Killer pair Asano Tadanobu and Omori Nao.
Rounding out the cast are actors Raymond Nicholson and Shiina Kippei, Kingslaive: Final Fantasy XV voice actress and upcoming Deadpool 2 co-star, Australian/Japanese import Kutsuna Shioli, Hostiles co-star Rory Cochrane, and Blade Of The Immortal actor Tanaka Min. Check out the trailer!
It was back in May ahead of the Cannes Film Festival that news broke of a forthcoming remastering and re-release of film auteur Miike Takashi’s manga adaptation hit, Ichi the Killer. The controversial ultra-violent crime horror scored a cult following after its 2001 and having only been shot on Betacam and only coverted 35mm film at the time, new technology now deems it possible for a more crisp and pristine finish.
Restoration of the film was handled by L’Immagine Rittrovata Asia, the Hong Kong offices of Davide Pozzi’s Bologna, Italy-based film restoration lab which opened to a lucrative streak of restoring Asian film in the wake of bolstering online video demand. Since then, the long-awaited announcement of its acquisition news was made over the weekend with word that Well Go USA have officially acquired distribution rights to the new 4K restoration now dubbed Ichi The Killer: The Digitally Restored Director’s.
Asano leads the film as a sadistic Yakuza enforcer whose search for his boss’s killer brings him full circle with a psychologically scarred martial artist armed with a kill switch and a blade tethered to his left foot. Asano is joined by title actor Omori Nao along with Tsukamoto Shinya, Sun Paulyn, Terajima Susumu and Sugata Shun.
“At Well Go USA, we’re big Takashi Miike fans,” said Doris Pfardrescher, President and CEO of Well Go USA Entertainment, “and we couldn’t be more excited that we get to finally unleash Ichi the Killer the way it was meant to be seen – and freak out a whole new audience!”
Pfardrecher herself negotiated the deal on behalf of Well Go USA with Emperor Motion Pictures on behalf of the filmmakers. Limited theatrical engagements begin exclusively on November 10 at the Metrograph in New York City with more dates and locations to follow over the next several months.
The film will be the second of two adaptations directed by Miike rolling out at the top of the month with Blade Of The Immortal making the first rounds on November 3 from Magnet Releasing.
One needn’t look too far in director Miike Takashi’s career to find any number of titles that near perfectly illustrate the warped, mindbending judo that embodies his craft. I haven’t seen all of his movies but the ones I have are all definitely thrilling classics in their own right – some of which are real envelope pushers.