| 2005 | |
| Dec. 29 | "Master of the Crimson Armor" is in total chaos in the U.S. now!!!
The Weinstein Company returned the distribution rights in the U.S., U.K.,
Australia and South Africa!! So this week's qualifying screening will be
handled by the production company, and the US title "Master of the
Crimson Armor" will be discarded. There will be 2 different version
remained, original long version and shorter version cut by Weinsteins.
I don't know what will happen for the distribution in US etc., so please
stay tuned!! Kaiju Shakedown 12/29 (English) Variety 12/29 (English) MonkeyPeaches (English) Hollywood Reporter 12/29 (English) Screen Daily 12/23 (English) |
| Dec. 27 | "Master of the Crimson Armor" ("WuJi - The Promise")
will be shown in L.A. at the following venue during Dec. 30 - Jan. 5. Open to public, so anyone who are in LA vicinity during that time, please go to see it
and let us know how it is!! Laemmle's Fairfax 3, 7909 Beverly Blvd. (corner of Beverly and Fairfax), Los Angeles, CA 90048 (323)655-4012 One showing daily only at 11:30 am The problem is that the film is cut more than 20 minutes from the original Chinese version, according to Variety. Kaiju Shakedown 12/26 (English) A new photo shot of "Sunshine" appears on Blackfilm.com, FoxSearchlight Picture officlal site, as well as MonkeyPeaches. Blackfilm.com (English) (Thank you, Wilson at Blackfilm!!) FoxSearchlight Picture (English) MonkeyPeaches (English) |
| Dec. 26 | Happy holidays, everyone!! I was on vacation for some time, and there have been lots of info about
Sanada-san during that time. I will try to catch up here. "WuJi" marked the historical record of Chinese box office result of approx. US$12 mil. for the first week release, breaking the previous record by "Kung-fu Hustle". Nikkan Sports article (Japanese) Sanada-san appears on the cover of a Japanese men's fasion magazine "Rentier". Great photo!!! Rentier Cover (Japanese) 12/23, Sanada-san was nominated in the Best Actor category in Japan Academy Awards. "AEGIS" got the nominations in 11 categories!! The award presentation will be held on March 3, 2006 in Tokyo. He is supposed to attend the award show, and it will be televised in Japan. Hoga Central Japan Academy Awards detailed list (English) This year's Japan Academy race is a tough one with a lot of good and popular movies lined up. "Always" is the strongest in the field, and for the best actor award, Somegoro Ichikawa has already won 2 of the smaller awards this month, and is considered leading the pack, so it is a toug battle for Sanada-san. "WuJi - The Promise" will be submitted for competition in Berlin Film Festival, Feb. 9-19, 2006. Yahoo! Movie (Japanese) 12/21, "The White Countess" limited open in New York and Los Angeles. "WuJi" promotion continues in Taiwan. Sanada-san looks relaxed - and sexy!!- in familiar Taiwan, where he already has lots of fans. 12/17 sina.com (1) 12/17 sina.com (2) 12/17 sina.com (3) 12/17 Yahoo! Taiwan (1) 12/17 WorldJournal 12/16 sina.com "WuJi" Taiwanese Official Site (Chinese) |
| Dec. 15 | Today's "WuJi" Chinese press information. sina.com (1) Premiere pictures in Guengzhou 12/14 sinacom (2) Hiro's picture in Hong Kong 12/13. REAL CHIC shiny black long jacket....hmmm sexy... sina.com (3) Premiere pictures in Hong Kong 12/13 sina.com (4) Premiere pictures in Hong Kong 12/13 sina.com (5) Another set of pictures in Hong Kong 12/13. It was Chen Hong's (Chen Kaige's wife and the producer) birthday. sina.com (6) Index of pictures on sina.com. Lots and lots of them, and increasing!! sina.com (7) Picture from Shanghai 12/15 sina.com (8) Another one from Shanghai 12/15 sina.com (9) Another one from Shanghai 12/15 Jang Dong-kun blog pictures (1) Hong Kong 12/13 Jang Dong-kun blog pictures (2) Hong Kong 12/13 sina.com Hong Kong press conf. video clip (Sanada-san appears only for a short period) sina.com another video clip for Chen Hong's birthday 12/13 Little spiderman appears! sina.com Guengzhou press conference video clip tom.com Hong Kong interview clip (1) tom.com Hong Kong interview clip (2) I have given up to read them through automatic translation, but according to RinRin who has these info on her Japanese blog (thank you, RinRin!!), press questions continue to focus on "the love scene" ChinabeCinema Mr. Manager watched the movie, and reports that it is a great movie. The focus is cleverly distributed to 6 major cast members, and yet each gets enough screen time, so it is hard to tell who is the "main character". It will make all the fans in all the actors/actresses in China, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan happy. Overall the movie is beautiful, very well acted, and well constructed. Chinese fans on IMDb "Mo Gik (WuJi - The Promise)" board are really excited about how WELL Sanada-san speaks Mandarin!! IMDb "Mo Gik" discussion board |
| Dec. 14 | Just heard from ChinabeCinema owner that Chen Kaige mentioned "Master
of the Crimson Armor" (The Promise - WuJi) wider opening is now scheduled
in February 2006, and that there will be a limited screening in L.A. The
purpose of the screening is to be considered in Oscar regular categories
(other than Foreign Language Film), as the requirement is at least 1 week
of showing in L.A. area during this year. Are they serious??? There are also a few new videos from China. Thank you, always, ChinabeCinema Mr. Manager!! sina.com Premiere red carpet arrival (mind you, this is in the tempreture of -10 c!!) sina.com Premiere team press conference **Mr. Manager says, "At the photo session after the press conference, Sanada-san waited to be seated till all the cameraman sits down, so everyone was impressed by his courteousness." sina.com Special TV program clip with all the main cast and the director And here's another interesting interview. As usual, reporters are so interested in the LOVE SCENE!! Yahoo China interview article (Chinese) Summary translation from Mr. Manager's report Reporter: Many people feel that the love scene with you and Cecilia Cheung is very impressive. How was the filming of this scene? Sanada: It is certain that this film's love scene is different from the regular ones. It is very beautiful and impressive. R: Did you know that this one is Cecilia's most exposed ever? S: Yes, I know. She told me before filming. She has not even did a hot kiss scene, and never had this type of love scene before. So there was a lot of pressure on me. I was afraid that if something went wrong, she might be a "love-scene-phobia". R: You and Cecilia were fully naked, and didn't you feel embarrased? S: I was a bit tight at the beginning, but not embarrased at all. That is because at that moment, she was exactly Chinchen (? the queen character) for me. But the actor in this situation needs to have a technique to show how beautiful the actress is. So at the same time as I became the role completely, I also was careful not to block Cecilia's beautiful body and face expression. In that sense, this scene was very tiring. R: The reports says Chen Kaige did a test love scene with you. S: Kaige's test was just the kiss. All the characters in the movie were created by him, so he understands all the psychology more than we do. So at the test, he was totally in the character. I thought he was very sexy. It was very interesting. It was in very cold place in Shangli-la, but I was sweating all over after the filming. (Oh, my GOD!! JUST THE KISS?? -- please see Dec. 7 entry below for more details) |
| Dec. 13 | "WuJi - The Promise" is NOMINATED IN GOLDEN GLOBE Foreign language film category!! It usually is a good precursor of Oscar,
so GREAT NEWS!! The award presentation will be on January 16, 2006 at Beverly
Hilton Hotel. The telecast will be on NBC at 8pm EST. HFPA Press Release (English) |
| Dec. 12 | "WuJi" World Premiere in China was held tonight. The tempreture
in Beijing was -10 c, but everyone is in all smiles!! Too much info is
up on Chinese and Japanese Websites, so I don't know even where to start... Here's a video clip of Sanada-san's interview in Beijing. (I will do the transcript when I have time later..) sina.com Sanada-san interview (Chinese and Japanese) I think this is the collection of making videos. It takes so much time to buffer and I have not seen all of them, but here we go. sina.com "Making" video clip collections (Chinese) Top page of sina.com "WuJi" site. Try clicking the clickables and you may find more pictures here and there. sina.com "WuJi" top page (Chinese) Here is my favorite. Sanada-san greeting with martial-arts style hand position. I saw him doing this gesture in "Aegis" making video as well, when he is done with a filming of a critical scene. sina.com Sanada-san greeting on the red carpet (Chinese) Some additional picture pages I found. sina.com (1) sina.com (2)Everyone together sina.com (3) Amazingly detailed photo footage of the premiere, the party, press conferences, makings and other events. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click different numbers. There are 23 pages in total. sina.com (4) Sanada-san's pictures during the interview sina.com (5) They have FINALLY created a database page for Sanada-san profile Will report others as I find them. |
| Dec. 11 | "WuJi" team gather in China, including Sanada-san and other main
cast and staff. They visit The Great Wall, and its video is up on sina.com.
There will be a premiere and a party in Beijing on Dec. 12. sina.com The Great Wall Tour in the feezing tempreture (12/11) "WuJi - la legende des cavaliers du vent" French version video clip is up on TFM site. TFM French video clip |
| Dec. 10 | "WuJi" new article with a photo appeared on Chinese site, and
another new photo from Sunshine blog!! sina.com (12/8) Sunshine blog (12/9) |
| Dec. 7 | Sorry folks, it looks like our concern was valid. Alison Veneto over at
MoviePoopShoot wrote in Kaiju Shakedown that the "WuJi - The Promise"
release is postponed, although there will be a week showing in L.A. at
the end of the year. Grady Hendrix confirms it today. Kaiju Shakedown12/7 entry (English) Kaiju Shakedown "The Promise" entry comments (English) In Nikkan Sports (paper version), Sanada-san says "After Beijing, I hope to ride on waves in Korea, Japan, US and Europe." I don't know if he means anything particularly in that order, but the Japanese fans who read it have the impression that the his PR activity will take place in that order, which means the US release will be sometime after February 2006 in Japan. To shake off the bad news, here are some additional FUN filming episodes from "ChinabeCinema". -Love scene with Cecilia Cheung. Her agent was firmly oppsed to play this scene by herself, afraid of tarnishing her image. But she was determined to do it for the sake of making a good movie (oh, really!?), so she sneaked out at 6am in the morning, while her manager was still sleeping, to do the scene. (Well, I don't blame her. Who would let SOMEONE ELSE do this with Sanada-san??) -Chen Kaige put a high priority in this love scene, so before Cecilia started her act, Kaige did her part and did some test acting by himself with Sanada-san!! After Sanada-san did some test like hugging and things (?), Kaige was satisfied and went ahead with filming. (Site owner's comment: "I hope Kaige brushed his teeth before the test...") -In a scene where The General is tied in a rope and hung on a tree. At the beginning, Sanada-san asked to be actually tied and hung (40 meters from the ground), so Kaige was moved by his seriousness and started filming as he demanded. However, as the time goes by, Sanada-san started to look to be in agony, so Kaige prepared a long ladder so Sanada-san can stand on it. (Ah.. did someone remember "D-slope"?) But even with the ladder, he was tied pretty tightly for 8 hours, so when the day was over, he was numb and could not move, and was given a whole body massage. Source: Yahoo China (1) (Chinese) Yahoo China (2) (Chinese) And here is another photo in Tokyo on Daily Sports: Daily Sports 12/7 (Japanese) Also from our international fans, some release dates of "The White Countess" in Europe is now available. (Thanks, issy and reiko!!) Belgium: March 22, 2006 U.K.: March 31, 2006 Source: IMDb |
| Dec. 6 | Yomiuri reports that Sanada-san had a press conference in Tokyo on Dec.
6. He says that he watched the fimal movie for the first time on that day,
and thought that "it is a very unique view of the world, very different
from Hollywood or from Japan. Please take a note at the multinational actors'
enthusiasm and tention." He also smiles and says "I have been
playing stoic characters for a while, but his is an off-the-wall one."
But with his usual seriousness also mentions, "I feel a big responsibility
as the only Japanese member in the cast." Yomiuri article (Japanese with a pcitur) According to its picture, he seems to have started to grow his hair again, and letting his beard grow. So it may be a preparation for the next movie!!?? Also in Japanese-language Korean info site, Jang Dong-kun's schedule info is mentioned in an article. It says that "WuJi"'s promition will be from Dec. 10 through 23 in many places throughout Asia. In Korea and Japan, the release will be in Feb., so I guess the promitional events will be held before that. The article is about Jang, but it says that all the main cast and staff will tour around together, so I am assuming that Sanada-san will be on the same schedule. Dec. 10 <Beijing> Press conference Dec. 12 <Beijing> Chinese premiere Dec. 13 <Hong Kong> Dec. 14 <Singapore> Dec. 15 <Shanghai> Dec. 17-18 (Jang will have to be back in Korea for another movie event) Dec. 19 <Malaysia> Dec. 20 <Thailand> Dec. 22 <Beijing> Opening party in Beijing Dec. 23 <Taiwan> Source: Chuo Nippo (Japanese) This means that there will be NO PROMOTIONAL EVENT before the release in the U.S. (assuming that the release will be on Dec. 16)!!?? NOOOOOOO!!!!!!! |
| Dec. 4 | According to "ChinabeCinema" site owner (Japanese-language blog
about Chinese movies, by a Japanese person living in China), special 2-hour
TV program about "WuJi - The Promise" was aired in China as a
part of the most popular movie introduction show. Sanada-san's interview
was shown for about 10 minutes. (Thank you millions, Mr. Manager at "ChinabeCinema"!!) ChinabeCinema (Japanese) -Sanada'san mentions, "There is a sad history among Japan, China and Korea. I feel that this movie becomes a harbinger for the friendship among these three countries, as well as among all Asian nations." -The site owner's comment: "It has such a profound meaning. I am so happy to have such a thoughtful actor as the Japanese cast member in the most talked-about movie in China now." -Cecilia Chang says: "Between the shooting and the breaks, he was always practicing lines, or trying to capture the movie's whole picture by reading the whole script, or thinking about how to express the emotion for acting. He is very serious and professional." (According to the site owner: By the way, all she did during the break was either sleeping or to call friends on the phone.) This site has so much cool info about "WuJi"! Here are some additional stuff that I got from this site. -China version trailer video is here. sina.com "WuJi" trailer -Translation of Mandarin lines by Sanada-san and Jang Dong-kun in this trailer ---------------------------------------------------- General: "Do you want to become my slave?" Slave: "Yes." General: "Why?" Slave: "Because if I am with you, I can eat meat." ---------------------------------------------------- General: "I did not kill the king!" ---------------------------------------------------- General: "Go! To obtain what you should obtain!" -And thanks to the above, I also understood the last comment on TV talk show (see Dec. 1 news below. I also corrected some small mistakes in 12/1 entry according to Chinabe's translation.) ---------------------------------------------------- Interviewer: "Now I understand the General is so great. I want to become General's subordinate, too." Sanada-san: "OK, that's good. 'If you are with me, you can eat meat'" (laughs) ---------------------------------------------------- -The site owner also mentions that Sanada-san's Mandarin is really beautiful. Personally speaking, I wish they do this type of promotion here in the U.S. as well. I can clearly imagine Sanada-san exchanging funny and clever comments like this with Jay Leno!! |
| Dec. 3 | "WuJi - The Promise" Korean posters are found!! Beautiful!! "WuJi" Korean Posters (Japanese) There is also an interesting exchange at IMDb discussion board about Sanada-san and Jang Don-kun in the film. A Chinese fan reports that Jang orignially wanted to do the role of General but was persuaded by Chen Kaige to do the slave, and then at the voice over, they first let Jang go with a pretty bad accent but because Sanada-san did too good a job and made Jan look "bad", they called him back to do it over!! Very interesting small episodes!! Also, a Chinese fan kindly responded to my question about "how is Sanada-san is considered, given the recent 'anti-Japan' sentiment in China?" See "Jang Dong-kun" thread in the below link. IMDb "WuJi" ("Mo Gik") discussion board (English) |
| Dec. 2 | "The White Countess" official Website is FINALLY open, and also,
a longer version of video trailer is up on the Web. YOU CAN HEAR SANADA-SAN'S
VOICE - IN ENGLISH - A LOT THERE!!!! This version gives me an impression
that they feature Sanada-san a lot, given all the previous English press
that basically ignored him, and I am hoping that this is a good indication
that the studio now has a confidence in Sanada-san's role in the film.
(Thanks Hirorin for all the info!!) "The White Countess" Official Website (English) Yahoo! Movies video clip (longer version) |
| Dec. 1 | "WuJi - The Promise" (by the way, the US title is now officially
"Master of the Crimson Armor" - ouch!) promotion started, and
Sanada-san appeared in a talk show in China (Hunan?). He talks about behind-the-scenes
episodes about the filming, and the writer preises him as "cheeful
and friendly". Below summary is taken from the automatic translation
and some parts are impossible to understand. If anyone can translate directly
from Chinese, please let us know!! (Thanks, RunRun and Reiichi, for the
info!) Sina.com interview article (Chinese, with a Sanada-san's picture!!) Another one with a different picture Summary translation: -Sanada-san appears in a talk show as the first appearance in Chinese media, while he accepts very few Japanese media interviews. (?) -As the host "torture" him with tough questions, he discloses interesting episodes, maintaining not only the kind and friendly atmosphere but also the international star's demeanor. -Even through an interpreter, you can see that he has a sense of humor and that he is intelligent, with full of smiles. -He imitated some scenes from the movie with his translator, and they sang and dance together to make people laugh at the TV set. -He explains about his character The General as "complex, has many aspects". His armor and helmet were called "fresh flower" and were so heavy that he had to wipe his sweat each time the shot was made. -"The Meteor Hammer" looks heavy, but it actually is made of rubber and can be picked up by a child. He learned how to use it for the first time this time, although he has experience in Karate and Kendo. -(to the question "what is the biggest shortcoming of Chen Kaige?", with a evel smile) He is too good in acting, so if he demonstrates how to play a scene, he makes actors lose self-confidence. -(about the love scene with Cecilia Chen) She played the part with emotion changes very well, and she was professional, very beautiful, sexy and lovable. -(asked "in your real life, is there a possibility that you fall in love with a woman like her?") Of course it is possible, but I don't have any particular standard. The most important thing is that both have good chemistry. -There are many memorable scene, but the most favorite is when the general lost everything, at the sunset, waiting for her to return. The line and scenery were beautiful and I could not help drop some tears. -Jang Dong-kun is very modest, honest and very good person. We could establish a link between us in the movie, and outside of it, we ate together and chatted together. I am happy to make such a good friend. -(asked "which do you think is better looking, you or him?", with smiles) Certainly him. -The relationships between Chen Kaige and Chen Hong (wife and producer) was normally the professional one, but when they eat lunch together, they become wife and husband. They handle the intimacy and the professionalism very well, and made me envy them. They sometimes argued about the movie, but they made it up later. All for the movie. -(to the question about the difference between Chinese directors and Japanese directors) They have many things in common. They both have leadership, are serious and rigorous, mature but creatively pure. The difference is that Chen Kaige has more friends and influence internationally. -(asked "who drinks the most in the team?") Chen is a big drinker, and among actors, I am (laughs), but I lose out to Chen in white liquor. Other than that, Nicholas Tse and Jang Dong-kun do not drink. Liu Ye can drink but I have not drunk with him. Last time in the overseas screening I missed the opportunity, so I will look for him this time in China. -The best actor in the film is the director. I admire his acting skills. The worst was the cows. (laughs) They were taken in by a broker, but some of them were young and disobedient, so they made me do many NGs. (I could not understand the last conversation.) At the end, they gave him a local hrysanthemum stone. As he leaves, he says through the interpreter "the TV program is very good" In China, 600,000 tickets for the premiere were sold out in one day, and looks like they are holding the premiere on Dec. 11 in Beijing. KFC cinema reports about its Oscar aspirations. However, Kaiju Shakedown reports about the lack of its publicity in the U.S. by Weinstein Co. KFC Cinema (English) Kaiju Shakedown (English) |
| Nov 21 | "The White Countess" NY premier pictures are up on the Getty
images!! Sanada-san is wearing glasses this time. And looks like lots of
celebs attended the event. Getty Images WireImage (run seach with the box on the upper left hand side) |
| Nov 20 | OK, so it is "practically" official. I got an insider info that
Sanada-san will attend New York premier on Monday. He will then fly to
the West Coast, then to China for WuJi campaign. |
| Nov 18 | I just found out that there will be a New York charity premier of The White
Countess on 11/21. The entry in this article does not include Sanada-san's
name, but according to an AEGIS insider in Japan, Sanada-san will fly to
the US soon, so he may appear in that premier. If you live close to New
York, you may want to check it out - and let us know how it went!! New York Social Diary (Scroll down to 11/21) New York Times writes about The White Countess (no film critic), and a brief video clip is available!! "Hiroyuki Sanada" appears at last of the cast introduction, so be patient. New York Times Movie Article The White Countess video clip on NYT |
| Nov 3 | Hoga Central has added a few more STUNNING pictures of Sanada-san!! (See
the link below) BTW, Kaiju Shakedown (Variety Asian movie blog) takes up
the Hoga article and adds a few nice comments about Sanada-san. Hoga Central (English) "Kaiju Shakedown" entry (English) Also I found an article about "TWC" premier on "Variety" "Variety" TWC article(English) And here is Hong Kong version of "WuJi - The Promise" trailer clip. A little bit longer than the Japanese clip, but a little less emphasis on Sanada-san.... "WuJi - The Promise" HK trailer |
| Nov 1 | A loooong interview article of Sanada-san is posted on "Hoga Central"!!!
It was on "The White Countess" premier press conference. Great
interview with a photo!! Quick, go check it out!! Hoga Central(English) |
| Oct 31 | A Taiwan fan informed that "Aegis" will be released in Taiwan on Nov. 26. However, we don't have any more details. We will follow up if we know more details. |
| Oct 27 | "WuJi - The Promise" Japanese official site is open!! Each time
you access the site, Sanada-san ("Power"), Jang Dong-kun ("Love")
and Cecilia Cheung ("Beauty") alternatively appear, so if you
don't see Hiro's General there, hit "Replay Intro" button on
the lower right hand side. "The Promise" official site by Warner Bros. Japan (Japanese) |
| Oct 19 | "The White Countess" premier photos are up on the Web!! WireImage (Put in "Hiroyuki Sanada" in the search box on the left) Getty Image Yahoo! He looks very fresh and energetic!! There may be a news broadcast in Japan in the morning of 20th. If you can get Fuji TV news on your cable TV (International Channel etc.) in the U.S., please check out, probably on Friday (21st) morning news. Some articles are due to come out soon as well. "AEGIS" DVD (Region 2, Japanese version) will be on sale on 12/22!!! There are 3 versions - "Collectors Box (with all the extras, special AEGIS goods etc. 4 disks)", "Special Edition (with extra interviews but no AEGIS goods, 2 disks)", "Regular Edition (movie plus a small extra, 2 disk)". Movie itself will have English subtitles in all the editions. Links to buy the DVDs |
| Oct 15 | "The White Countess" Los Angeles Premier will be held next week!! Date: Oct. 18, Tuesday evening (I don't know the exact time yet. Will report as soon as I know) Place: The Academy Theater (8949 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles) If you can be there, PLEASE GO THERE AND SUPPORT SANADA-SAN! If you want to hook up with fan friends in LA area to go there together, please e-mail Misty. |
| Oct 14 | "Sunshine" blog shows Sanada-san's picture, and his birthday
celebration, which also happened to be the last day of his shooting there. Sunshine blog by Gia Milinovich (all in English) Cast - Hiroyuki Sanada His birthday cake!! |
| Oct 10 | "WuJi"'s Japanese TRAILER VIDEO is AVAILABLE from Warner Bros.
Japan!!!! Looks like we finally can appreciate the FULL VERSION of Sanada-san's
action scenes and love scene!!!! It is also reported on KFC Cinema. WarnerBrothers "The Promise" Japan Video Trailer (scroll down and click "Promise") KFC Cinema (English) |
| Oct 7 | "WuJi"'s US titles starts to appear as "Master of the Crimson
Armor". Several sites list under its title. So far in the Chinese
media, Sanada-san's name always appear at 3rd or lower in the cast list,
but in the US release info, he is placed on the top. (Naturally, as he
is the best known internationally among the WuJi cast.) By the way, there
have been several contradictory news about the China's Oscar entry, saying
that a different film was selected. I still have not had the final confirmation.
I will let you know when I have the final words. MonkeyPeaches (English) movieweb.com (English) |
| Sep 29 | "WuJi" is previewed for the first time in Chengdu, for the purpose
of Oscar entry selection. According to sina.com, eople lined up for 4 hours
to get the tickets yesterday. Director Chen Kaige brought the film by himself
and slept with it in the hotel room, to avoide any piracy attempt. sina.com (Chinese) ZJYC (Chinese) -- pictures from the preview showing |
| Sep 27 | "WuJi" was selected as the entry from mainland China for the
Oscar Foreign Language Film category, according to Monkey Peaches. As a
side note, "Blood and Bones" starring Takeshi Kitano and Kyoka
Suzuki is the entry from Japan, (see Hoga Central for more details) and "Aegis" did not make it. Taking Takeshi's
popularity in international market, it probably is unfortunate for us but
realistic choice. Sanada-san's "The Twilight Samurai" beat Takeshi's
"Zatoichi" two years ago, (and as you know well, was nominated
in the Oscars, but not this year. Monkey Peaches articles (English) |
| Sep 22 | "WuJi" official site opens. (Please note it takes some time to
download the pics and music.) The clip (not exactly the video clip - the
"slide show" of movie still pictures) features Sanada-san mostly
- it starts and ends with him!! (Thanks reiko and Reiichi for the info.)
Wait till the clip ends, and click the "kanji characters" below
to see some additional pictures. Also, try clicking the golden mask at
the end. - Don't laugh!! WuJi official site top page clip (Chinese) Picture gallery (Chinese) Posters (Chinese) Monkey Peaches articles (English) |
| Sep 18 | "The White Countess" Promotional still photos appear on Merchant
Ivory Website. (Thank you, issy!!) Several new photos of Sanada-san are
included. Merchant Ivory Website (English) I also have put up the link to a whole bunch of new interview articles translated into English on Jamie's site. Please see the "Interview Index" page. HSE Interview Index |
| Sep 16 | "WuJi" Promotional still photos appear on several sites!! There
are several cool new photos of Sanada-san!! (Thanks reiko, as usual!!) MonkeyPeaches (English) sina.com (Chinese) yule.sohu.com (1) (Chinese) yule.sohu.com (2) (Chinese) yule.sohu.com (3) (Chinese) yule.sohu.com (4) (Chinese) From Reiichi's info - this looks like the "official site" for WuJi. (Thanks, Reiichi!) WuJi Official Site (?) (Chinese) |
| Sep 13 | Promotion for "WuJi - The Promise" will start in China on September
21. There will be a press conference, showing of a short trailer (4 min.),
and the official site will open on that day. Music for "WuJi"
was played by Cincinnati Pops, and there will be two concerts at the Great
Hall of People in Beijing by them on October 21-22, where they will play
the music from "WuJi". They will play two pieces, "the romantic"
and "the pathetic", one for each day. They will also hold concerts
in Shanghai and Singapore. (Anyone who has a chance to go there, please
report to us!!) sina.com (Chinese) MonkeyPeaches (English) Reiichi's unofficial site (Japanese with English translation -- Click "English" for translation) Michelle Yeoh's Website shows some info and interviews about "The Unofficial Sunshine Project". Cast pictures are also shown there (and by the way, they took Sanada-san's pic from this site ;-) Michelle Yeoh Web Theater (English) |
| Aug 24 | His New Movie Info is FINALLY OUT!! The production of a UK film "The Untitled Sushine
Project", directed by Danny Boyle, is announced. It is a sci-fi film
about 8 spaceship crew to save the sun, and Sanada-san is one of them!!
Other crew members will be played by Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Chris Evans,
Troy Garity, Cillian Murphy, Benedict Wong and Michelle Yeoh. (hmmm...
I smell some marshal arts there...) Filming has already started in London,
and it is planned to be released sometime in 2006. (Thank you Nekota, reiko
and Adriana for the news!!) Coming Soon (English) Yahoo (English) Filmacco (English) AsiaMovieNews (English) IMDb (English) |
| Aug 23 | Weekend box office result in Japan: "Aegis" continued to hold
onto the 5th position, with everything else pretty much the same as last
week (except that "Pokemon" and "Yokai" switched their
positions). As of the end of last week, the accumulated audience number
surpassed 1.2 million, according to "Aegis" official blog. Fan's
reaction to this movie seem to go two extremes, according to various movie
discussion sites: some people just LOVE it, preise the quality of the movie
and the theme it raises, while some people simply trash it as "shallow".
Well, if you want to read what I think about the movie, please see: Misty's "AEGIS" review on HSE (it was also quoted in "Variety" blog!!) "AEGIS" review on IMDb (English) A movie trailer clip is available on its official site, and Jamie has put up some GREAT Sanada-san's interview clips on her site.  Jamie's site interview clip (1) Jamie's site interview clip (2) |
| Aug 17 | Sanspo reports that the accumulated audience number of "Aegis" has surpassed 1 million people, and its box office has reached 1.3 bil. yen (approx. $13 mil.), after 18 days. The studio says that the numbers started to grow quite a bit since the beginning of "Bon" holiday season (mid-summer Buddhism holiday). In addition to the older age group, which has been the main segment since the opening, more students and young couples are showing up. They are hoping to keep this pace till the end of summer. |
| Aug 15 | Weekend box office result in Japan: "Aegis" is on the 5th position, after "Madagascar" (anime), "Sith", "Pokemon" (anime), Yokai Daisenso. Summer kids movies continue to attract weekend family viewers, but still people are talking about "Aegis." |
| Aug 8 | According to Sankei, "Aegis" weekly box office reached 760 mil.
yen with 600,000 audience during the first week, since 7/30 opening. The
studio is saying that the male:female ratio is 6:4 among the audience.
The age range is fairly wide, with over-30 as the main segment, and married
couples (which is NOT very common in Japanese movie theaters) are often
present as well. Told you, "Aegis" is not for kids. And according
to this number and the report of the opening weekend number on 8/1, more
people watched the movie during the week than the weekend. The studio's
prediction was right. The second weekend ranking was reported as 5th, after "Naruto" (ninja anime), "Sith", "Pokemon" (anime), Yokai Daisenso (monster fantasy). Well, it's summer - we cannot help kids movies dominate the weekend, and the adults go to theaters after work during the week, I guess. |
| Aug 6 | Sorry for the incorrect info - "TWC" was not in the list of entries on Venezia official site. Below info was based on the site's specilation, and I did not properly check the fact. I will update any follow-up if any. |
| Aug 5 | Another good news about Venezia!! According to ioncinema.com, "The
White Countess" is likely to make an entry to Venezia Film Festival,
as well as "WuJi - The Promise". As for "WuJi", the
follow-up reports say that they still are not sure if the post-production
can be make it in time, and that they still don't know if "WuJi"
appears in Venezia yet. ioncinema.com (English) |
| Aug 2 | According to Yahoo Japan and sina.com, "WuJi" will make an entry
to Venezia Film Festival and will be shown on September 3 as a part of
"Chinese martial arts movies special". Director Chen Kaige is
saying that he will try to finish it up by the end of August and will bring
it "hot out of press" to the Festival. Although the time is tight,
he states that he will never sacrifice the quality of the movie. They are
hoping to use this occasion as a springboard for the film sales in Europe.
The article also reports that they are preparing to make an entry to the
Oscar Foreign Language Film category as well. sina.com (Chinese) Yahoo Japan (Japanese) Woo, and I didn't know that there was an English article about Aegis premier!! Scroll all the way down for the pictures (although they have all the name orders wrong...) Thanks, Reiko!! Mainichi article (English) |
| Aug 1 | According to Box Office Japan quick report, "Aegis" came in 3rd
over this weekend, trailing "Star Wars Episode III" and "Pokemon".
Not bad, considering it is the second weekend in the school summer recess
in Japan and kids are flooding the theaters - Aegis is not for KIDS!! Box Office Japan by Kogyo Tsushinsha (English) According to Sanspo, "Aegis" attracted 220,000 viewers and more than 300 million yen box office gross over the weekend (Sat/Sun), very good for Japanese movies. The studio says that the audience is spread among wide age segments, centered around 40-50's. They are expecting continued growth throughout the week, as it is not a "family movie". There have been two other movies based on the same novelist (Harutoshi Fukui) stories, Lolerei (2.4 bil. yen) and Samurai Commando: Mission 1549 (1.9 bil. yen), both released earlier this year, and the studio is expecting "Aegis" will surpass those records. As a side note, this year's biggest box office maker so far among non-anime Japanese movies is "Negotiator Mashita Masayoshi", with approx. 4 bil. yen, and Aegis's first missile target is this guy. For more information about Aegis and Japanese movies in general, please visit the following site, to which I contribute some articles: Hoga Central (English) |
| July 30 | "Aegis" opens today , in "standing-room only" theaters
(277) throughout Japan. According to Sanspo, the studio is targeting at
5 billion yen (approx. US$50mil.) box office gross, top figure among Japanese
movies this year, and today's result is a good start right to the target!!
Sanada-san, along with other major cast members, the director and the original
novelist appeared on the stage after the first show in Marunouchi Piccadely
1 in central Tokyo (see the link below for the happy team in the packed-house
theater), and greeted the fans with a humor, "Today, I will sail off
towards the 'success of the movie' and 'world peace' as one of the crew
of Aegis. 'Iijisuka?' (meaning 'is it OK?' but making it sound like 'Aegis'.)
..... Fans, please recommend this movie to 100 people. 'Iijisuka?'"
And several hundred fans replied "Iijisu!! (It is OK!!)" With
the box office success in Japan, it will be more likely for this movie
to be released in more countries. Cheers for Aegis!! Sanspo article (Japanese with a photo - from the left, Director Junji Sakamoto, Akira Terao, Kiichi Nakai, Sanada-san, Koichi Sato, Ryo Katsujii and the novelist Harutoshi Fukui) |
| July 28 | "Aegis" Japan premier was held in Tokyo. Sanada -san walked on
the red carpet and talked on the stage, together with Akira Terao, Kiichi
Nakai, Koichi Sato, Ryo Katsuji, Che Minso, other casts, Director Junji
Sakamoto, music director Trevor Jones, editor William Anderson, original
novelist Harutoshi Fukui, and Producer Shohei Kodaki. Sanada-san greeted
the crowd of 4,000 with all smiles, saying "I am so excited to finally
come to the time to sail." Several politicians, including former Prime
Ministers Nakasone, Mori, Hada, Financial Minister Shiokawa, and the Senator
Chairman Oogi, attended the event, as well as several top defense officers.
Many Sanada-san fan site owners and bloggers were invited to the event
through the Aegis official blog, including several of my close friends. Sanspo article (Japanese with a photo) |
| July 27 | "The White Countess" new still images appear on Sony Pictures
Website. (Click "Still Images") Sony Pictures Still Photos "Aegis" Japan Premier is held in Tokyo today. Sanada-san and other major casts appear on the red carpet. Details will follow as are reported by Japanese fans. |
| July 16 | According to Aegis official blog, negotiation for "Aegis" international distribution is particularly going well in Taiwan and Thailand, and it is currently scheduled to be released sometime in September 2005 in these two countries. Japan Herald is asking all the Japanese fans to crank up the sales in Japan, to support other negotiations. Stay tuned!! I was able to watch the preview of "Aegis" on July 12, with courtesy of Kodansha, the original novel publisher. I am trying to write the review now - in short, IT IS A GREAT MOVIE!! It certainly is another epoch-making movie in Japan, and Sanada-san is just AMAZING!! I could feel the passion of the people who made this movie. I hope it will be released in many other countries, and many Japanese fans are with us too!! |
| July 9 | Sanada-san toured across Japan for Aegis campaing this week. He appeared on stage in preview events in Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima and Fukuoka, and also met local press in many other cities. People close to the production team all are so impressed about his sincere attitude, as most of the top stars would not take such pains to tour so many cities for a movie promotion. In the newspaper article which reported Osaka event, it is said that Sanada-san now is based in Los Angeles and that he visited Tom Cruise's "War of the World" filming there. No more detail is available more than that, but I sure will follow if I find any more info about this! Sanspo.com (Japanese) Excerpt: -Hiroyuki Sanada spoke on the stage in a promotional event for "Aegis" in Osaka on July 4. -He said that wide range of people, in age, gender or profession, can "get something" from this movie. ^When asked what he thought of the major competing movies that will be released about the same time, including "Star Wars" and "War of the World", he laughed "I am so excited to compete with them. Yesterday's friend is today's enemy (pointing to Tom Cruise, whom he worked together in "The Last Samurai"). -Sanada currently is based in Los Angeles, so he visited the filiming location of "War of the World". "I just wanted to cheer Tom, but he might have thought I was spying on him", he joked. |
| June 24 | "WuJi" news clip in Taiwan
is found - Sanada-san is saying Chinese tongue twister!! TVBS WuJi clip AEGIS new video trailer clips are up on Japan Herald Website. Herald AEGIS clip (Windows Media for dial-up) Herald AEGIS clip (Windows Media for broadband) |
| June 16 | I found a few more articles about "WuJi". Singapore media reports interviews with WuJi casts in Cannes. Asia1 (English) sina.com reports about Harvey Weinstein's first viewing of the almost completed "WuJi" in Hong Kong. He admires the film and states that the film is a strong Oscar contender. He has represented a few Oscar films in the past, including "English Patient", "Pianist", and Chen Kaige's "Farewell My Concubine", while he was heading Miramax. sina.com(1) (Chinese) sina.com(2) (Chinese) |
| June 13 | Chinaview.cn reports that WuJi is getting
overseas distribution in a quick pace. In addition to Weinstein &
Co. (see May 17 news), Japan (Gaga), Korea (Show East) and France
(TFM Distribution) have purchased the rights early on. Chinaview.cn (English) |
| June 8 | OK, I admit, I have been spending too
much time on AEGIS lately, and have not notice these other news. 1. WuJi release date is officially announced - Dec. 15 for mainland China, and Dec. 16 for the U.S. Monkey Peaches (English) Coming Soon (English) 2. Probably for the purpose of tribute to late Ismail Merchant, the producer of "The White Countess" who just passed away, Monkey Peaches shows some pictures from TWC filming in Shanghai. (Sanada-san is not in any of the photos, though) Monkey Peaches TWC (English) |
| June 5 | It is a bit old news - during Cannes
Film Festival, "AEGIS"was marketed in "Film Market"
there and Sanada-san appeared in a special report in a Japanese NTV
morning news show on May 18. I could finally see the recording of
the following news. Excerpts of the report: -On the other side of the flashy film festival filled with celebs, tough sales competition was going on among world's film producers. -Sanada-san: "I want to show the world what we got, through my work as an actor, or a movie that I work with. I believe this is one step towards that goal." -Reporter: "Does the world accept the Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada? (Misty: WE DO!!) We were permitted to bring in a camera in this film market, so we are bringing this exclusive report to you this morning!" -Another reporter: "Sanada-san is in Cannes as a representative of the movie staff, and currently they have received offers to distribute the film in 32 countries, including the U.S."... (and then they go on to talk about the importance of the film market in the international movie business - they do a careful preparation, and try to close the deal during the festival. It is the largest film market in the world, gathering producers and distributors from more than 70 countries. In the Japan booth, a sales lady explains that Sanada-san in AEGIS was the star in Twilight Samurai, and the distributor guy claps!!) -Reporter: "Sanada-san has been often saying he wants to contribute to the internationalization of Japanese movies. And he is there to represent AEGIS production staff. After the preview showing of the movie, he received the press interviews for more than 2 hours, with no translator." A british and a Russian reporter praises Sanada-san. -Sanada-san: "I am getting interviews as a rep of the movie, rather than as myself, so I feel more comfortable with staff's support behind me. I have planted seeds here and there for the past few years, then one leads to another unexpectedly, so the things started to create new links in many ways. I really think that it is important to accumulate things little by little." -Reporter: "He feels a strong response to the Japanese movies in the world, and the staff feels that Sanada-san is an important element." -Staff: "Sanada-san's name is often mentioned here, and he is drawing a strong interest into the movie too." -Reporter: "He is the top actor to represent Japan, and his presence in Cannes drove the interest to AEGIS from 32 countries." TBS's "King's Branch" on 5/24 also reported about both WuJi and AEGIS being marketed in Cannes. No new info was mentioned, but you can see a part of WuJi (Sanada-san is hurled into the air by red soldiers) and AEGIS clip. Another report earlier on another NTV news show also reports Sanada-san's interview. Many things that we have heard in his past interviews were talked about. -The real Aegis ship was unbelievable - it felt strange to think the real missle was there. Aegis' set was huge and real, and he sometimes was confused if he was on the set or real ship. -He played all the dangerous scenes himself with no stantman. "Not only actions, but also about dances or any other skills, a stantman is a human being, so there should be nothing I cannot do if I train enough." -In line with this philosophy, he spends all his free time in different studies and training. Right now, he is concentrating on language studies. "My work field is expanding internationally right now, and the language skills, such as English or Chinese, are considered a license there." -Since "The Last Samurai", he is receiveing lots of international offers. He worked hard to picture authentic Japan in that movie. "I did not want to leave something in the history that Japanese viewers think strange. I dared to speak up, thinking that I would take it if this becomes my last Hollywood movie. I want to stop the trend that Japanese actors are forced to act like what Americans think Japanese are, and in that sense, I think that in cultural aspect, we are still at the last stage of isolation period. We are now at the 'bakumatsu' (last of the Edo Shogunate period)." |
| June 2 | "AEGIS" clip and Sanada-san's
interview was shown in Taiwan - Sanada-san's Mandarine can be heard
LIVE!! According to an article on Japanese newspaper Sankei, Taiwanese
distributor was eager to show the movie in Taiwan as soon as possible,
and signed the deal while still in Cannes. So Taiwanese fans, you
can watch the movie pretty soon!! And I hope other countries follow
suit!! You can see the video clip on the link below: TVBS clip (Chinese) According to Feline: The reporter said Sanada-san wanted to bring something new to the audience. Even with the Japanese-chinese relationship when he was filming in China for Wuji, he became good friends with others (koreans, chinese) so he believed that movies can contribute to something. Sanada-san would also go to Taiwan to promote Wuji, and hoped to work with a Taiwan director. The he used Mandarin to greet the audience of TVBS - translated "TVBS audience, hello everyone, I'm Sanada Hiroyuki" |
| June 1 | AEGIS new trailer video clip is available
on AEGIS official site!! This is the longer version than the previous
one. SO EXCITING!! AEGIS goo official site (Japanese - the video starts automatically. If not, click "SELECT 1") |
| May 30 | The White Countess will be released
on November 4!! There are several sites that report "Nov. 18", but Sony Pictures Classics site reports Nov.4, so I am pretty sure it is the date - and I believe that is the date for the U.S., and for the U.K. as well. Canada release seems to be Dec. 2, according to Tribute.ca. Sony Pictures Classics |
| May 27 | AEGIS was shown to the press and the press event was held in Tokyo on May 24. News clips are available online - Sanada-san is saying: "This time, I am playing the most average guy among the characters, Sengoku. At one point, he discovers his own instinct as a man. I hope you enjoy the movie as an entertainment, and I would be happy if you bring a souvenir home and open it up." Yahoo! News (Clike either "56k" or "300k" to see the video clip) "This film pictures the serious but entertaining, picturing the current issue in Japan. Most of the characters are men, and the filming was really fruitful for me, together with Akira Terao who just appeared in the video and other powerful members. This movie would have been impossible without cooperation of The Ministry of Self Defence and Self Defence Forces, and I am very happy to see such a movie is made and can be enjoyed by everyone, so I would like to thank the SDF members here. ...(after that, same as above)" Cinema Topic Online (Click either "Large" or "Small") Goo Broadband (Click either "56k", "300k" or "1Mbps") On TV News on 5/25, Sanada-san was asked to pause for the cameras together with Nakai and Sato. Those three are very good friends in the same age group, and cosidered the top of the top Japanese actors. All three were joking and laughing to each other. Sanada-san says "Manzai comedian trio?", Nakai-san goes (pointing to other actors) *You guys are too quiet!", Sanada-san follows "Yeah, you guys have to follow us up (with jokes)". He looked very relaxed and happy! |
| May 19 | Another film release news!!! "AEGIS"
will open in Japan on July 30 according to AEGIS official blog. The blog also mentioned that Sanada-san had to take Vitamin C fluid through IV for 5 times during AEGIS filming, to help recover from fatigue!! I hope such an amazing effort will be somehow compensated by the success of the film. |
| May 17 | NEWS!!! "WuJi" will open
in the U.S. on December 26!!! Weinstein Co. and IDG bought "WuJi"'s
North American, English, Australia, New Zealand and South African
rights!! Chen Kaige and Weinstein are talking about his Oscar ambition
for WuJi. Some other info link at Monkey Peaches as well. sina.com (Chinese) Hollywood Reporter.com (English) (Thank you, R. for info!!) Monkey Peaches (English) Another Cannes News!!! "AEGIS" was shown to the foreign buyers in Cannes Market, and received a GREAT response. Sanspo.co.jp Sponichi.co.jp zakzak.co.jp (All in Japanese, with Sanada-san's photos, too!) Excerpts from Sanspo.com and SpoNichi article: -The film was shown twice to the buyers and press from around the world. On 14th, 29 distributors from 20 countries including the U.S. , U.K., France, Spain, and Korea, came to see the preview of the film, and there are 52 other distributors from 11 countries who made inquiries to Japan Herald, the film producer. According to them, some distributors may sign the contract before the end of the Festival. Some distributors have the network in several countries, so we are targeting at getting the distribution in 20-30 countries." -SkyTV (U.K.) says "Entertainment film with a delicate message and theme. I enjoyed very much, just like an action blockbuster in Hollywood." -Sanada-san watched the film preview together with the buyers. He comments: "It strikes my heart differently when I see it in a foreign country like Cannes. I was curious how non-Japanese viewers would understand Self Defence Forces system, which is unique in Japan. I was concious about it as I watched the film. -Center of the attention was Hiroyuki Sanada, who starred in various international movies such as "The Last Samurai", "WuJi - The Promise" and "The White Countess." The press people commented: "Sanada's talent as a world-class actor was evident in the film" (Russia), "It is nice that we could understand the way Japanese think about the world peace through Sengoku (Sanada-san)." (Taiwan TVBS), "He has proven his first-class acting ability, not just as an action hero." (UK SkyTV) -Sanada-san is scheduled to be interviewed by the press from France, Russia and Italy. -Sanada-san comments about this movie: "There is no other system like Self Defence Forces in the world, and is an interesting angle to look at Japan. The movie has become more than just a military or political movie. I am happy as long as we can communicate that everyone has his/her own justice, and that fighting each other is such an empty thing. I think we were successful in it." -Japan Herald prepared English brochures to explain SDF system and distributed to the viewers before the show. The excerpts of the brochure will be added to the beginning of the movie's international version. According to AEGIS official blog, one of the staff carried a huge box (weighs 30kg) which contained the newly-made English subtitled AEGIS film from Tokyo to Cannes as a carry-on luggage, to make it in time of the showing. He says that the international flight was OK, but a small plane between Paris and Cannes was a HUGE challenge!! Thank you to the effort of all the staff members to show this film to potentially all of us international fans!! |
| May 16 | Sanada-san is almost finished with his
duty with "WuJi" promotion team, and now is moving on to
the promotion of "Aegis" in Cannes Market. Sanada-san's new photo session pics at Getty Images!! Getty images Some additiona Chinese site info about Cannes over the weekend (all in Chinese): sina.com qq.com New Posters (including General's close up) |
| May 13 | FINALLY Cannes "WuJi" news
appear on Japanese news sites! There was a press party in a castle
on 5/12, and there was a press conference before that. (Followings are all Japanese with pictures) Nikkan Sports Daily Sports Other articles without pictures: China Entertainment, Sports Nippon, Sports Hochi Plus, more news and pictures on Chinese sites. udn.com (Chinese) VIDEO footage on sina.com!!! (Please be aware that the video loads VERY slowly.) sina.com video (Chinese) Some excerpts and comments from the Japanese articles: -A press conference was held at 1pm on 12th. Chen Kaige, Sanada-san, Cecilia, Nicholas and Dong-kun were all there, for the first time since the end of the filming. More than 100 press members from all over Asia, including China, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, gathered to report about this all-Asia big project. -Sanada-san's comment about Director Kaige: "He listens to us actors closely, and make changes quickly if he feels necessary." -Sanada-san's Cannes appearance is the first time in 10 years, since "Sharaku" in 1995. He spoke about his passion, "I want to break the walls among Asian countries that still remain today." -Approx. 12 minutes digest version was shown to the 240 press members from 35 countries. The version includes action scenes where Sanada-san's General leads many soldiers and fights, a fantasic love scene between the General and the Queen and some others, and the viewers gave a huge applause. -Sanada-san comments about his collaboration with Chen Kaige: "He takes interest to various new experiments, and I learned a lot from him. I could break my own shell and expanded myself. I could try something that I could not do in Japan and it made me jump over a hurdle." -About other Asian top starts in the cast: "It was a reat stimulus. I felt a special tie to Dong-kun." Sanada-san calls him "Don-chan", Dong-kun calls him "brother", and they sang "Ellie My Love" (Japanese popular song) together in Karaoke once. Sanada-san says, "Even though we cannot make any ad-libs in lines, we could do a lot in face expressions and atmosphere." Director Kaige says, "I chose these two because they are the best actors in Japan and Korea. The friendship of these two produced something more than perfect." -The story is set in "somewhere in Asia" and no particular nationality are assigned to the characters. -Last summer, when there was a riot at the soccer game between China and Japan, he was told not to go out. "Sprots should be enjoyed without such political involvement. It is so sad. I joined this project because it was meant to show the world "all-Asia" product. The adversity made me even passionate, and I felt 'this is because I am here'." -"I thought our generation has to do something about the things that has been left undone for sixty years after the war, and remove the high walls among Asian countries. I think we can do something with the power of the film." -At the filming, even at the first day the staff even gave him a big applause to his passionate acting. He learned Mandarin perfectly. It was close to obsession. -Sanada-san has been in the epoch-making films such as "The Last Samurai" and "The Twilight Samurai" recently, and is receiving more and more offers from overseas. -The movie will be released in December in China and Korea, and in March in Japan. |
| May 12 | A bunch of Cannes pictures appear on
sina.com site!!! sina.com (1) (Chinese) sina.com (2) (Chinese) I also found a small article in English news. China View (English) |
| May 11 | New posters and pictures of "WuJi"
appear on the net, in relation to Cannes Festival! Posters on sina.com (Chinese, the third poster is Hiro-san's) Larger version poster on sina.com (Chinese) Picture on udn.com (Chinese) English translation of sina.com |
| May 7 | Japanese women's magazine CREA reports
Sanada-san's interview article. CREA article translation (English) |
| May 2 | So finally it's official --- Sanada-san
will appear in Cannes Film Festival for "WuJi"!! He said
it himself in a TV news interview. Cannes Film Festival Official Site (English) Japanese ladies magazine Josei Jishin reports that Sanada-san will arrive at Cannes on May 10, and he will attend a party in an old castle on May 14. Main cast members will promote "WuJi" in their costumes. Taiwanese site Yam.com also reports a little bit of Cannes schedule. "Aegis" will also be promoted in Cannes, so Sanada-san will work for "Aegis" promotion also. Yam.com (Chinese) On April 27, NTV in Japan showed a short interview of Sanada-san in a news broadcast. Essense of the interview was reported on "Aegis" official blog as follows: <About filming with the Aegis warship and its set> -The filming in the real ship was beyond my imagination. Not only the scale, but also there were real missles and guns. It was amazing. The open set was so real that I sometimes got confused whether I was on the real ship or the set. I want to give hands to the staff who made such a wonderful set. <Sanada-san acted himself without stants, even in very dangerous scenes.> -Whether it is singing, dancing or any other techniques, there is nothing you cannot do with a training. <"Anything is possible with training" is his motto. So he spends most of his free time in studying and training, so he can act in any types of roles. Right now, he is concentrating on foreign language studies.> -Now I do a lot of work overseas, and language is the license for these works. So whenever I have some free time, I study foreign language. <About his advice on costumes and sets in "The Last Samurai"> -I did not want to leave something that the Japanese people see as strange, and I thought I should end the era that Japanese actors have to act like foreign people think Japanese do. I wanted to end it by our generation. <Then he spoke about his schedule to go Cannes with "WuJi" casts, and finished the interview with the words of high expectation about "Aegis".> "Aegis" official blog (Japanese) |
| Apr. 30 | San Francisco Chronicle April 17 issues
has an interesting article about Kazuo Ishiguro, the original screen
play writer of "The White Countess". It does not mention
TWC, but it talks about his past collaboration with James Ivory, "The
Remains of The Day". Ishiguro also talks about his identity as
Japanese-born British, and his outsider mentality that gives his works
cosmopolitan taste. SF Chronicle article |
| Apr. 22 | There have been some interesting episodes from the filming of "Aegis"
in its official blog site, so I made some translations. The blog is
written by several members close to the filming, and includes the
story of his diet effort between WuJi and Aegis, exchange with the
real Self Defence Forces officer etc. "Aegis" blog excerpts Another sinalcom news from WuJi is up. It includes a "spoiler", so don't read it if you don't like to be spoiled. English translation |
| Apr. 20 | On Apr. 9, Japanese entertainment newspaper Sanspo reports that
Sanada-san is interested in the next movie by Director Hideo Nakata
("Ring 2" Hollywood version, and original "Ringu").
It is the Hollywood re-make of "The Eye", a Thai horror
movie. Tom Cruise is the producer of this Hollywood version. IMDb info about "The Eye" (Jian gui) Sanspo.com (Japanese) There also was a report about the voice of the "queen" in WuJi, and Sanada-san is mentioned in the article. sina.com(1) sina.com(2) English translation |
| Mar. 22 | Photos from WuJi voice over appear on sina.com. They still have
not found the voice for the Queen. Korean site Innolife reports that
"WuJi" will be released on Dec. 9 in Korea, and Dec. 23
in China this year. No info about the release dates in other countries.
I also found some English version short news about the voice over. sina.com (Chinese) sina.com English version China Economic Net (English) Innolife (Japanese) |
| Mar. 16 | Another news report about WuJi recording on Chinese sites. Nothing
totally new, but it again says that all four main actors/actress will
go to Cannes for the promotion of the movie. In another Chinese article,
they say the producers are having a hard time finding the voice for
the Queen. yam.com (Chinese) |
| Mar. 7 | U.S. entertainment trade publication "Variety" reports
about "Aegis". No mention about Sanada-san, but they say
Nippon Herald is planning to market the film in Cannes. Variety Article |
| Mar. 4 | Another FUN report about "WuJi" voice over. It sound VERY
MUCH like our perfectionist Hiro-san!! -Jang Dong-kun and Nicholas Tse has already left Beijing, but Sanada-san is scheduled to work on voice-over for the coming 2 days. -Hiro's General rides on a horse a lot. To make his voice realistically sound like he is short of breath, Sanada-san hops and jumps around, and he sweats a lot in a cold winter day!! sina.com (Chinese) |
| Mar. 4 | "Premiere Japan" April issue reports a very good interview
article of Sanada-san. He talks about his ealy days, and about his
recent international works. See the English translation below: Premiere Article English Translation Pictures |
| Mar. 2 | Another voice over report on Chinese site with HIS PICTURE!!!! It
also talk about the two foreign actors' effort to speak proper Mandarine,
and that they both refuse to compromise in the quality and keep working
deligently without any complaint. It reports that the post-production
is scheduled to be over by Sep. or Oct. this year. yam.com (Chinese) |
| Mar. 1 | Monkey Peaches and sina.com report about "WuJi" voice-over.
-All the cast members are recording the voice-over in Mandarine Chinese, including Hiro and Korean star Jang Dong-kun. -Sanada-san practiced the proper way to scream in Chinese, and JDK worked his throat too much and it even bleeded. -They gathered 100 people in all ages and "blind tested" Sanada-san's and JDK's Chines to see if they should do their own voice-over or not. -The voice-over of the two non-Chinese actors takes so much time and effort. JDK's one phrase took 15 hours all together once. The staff members were too tired and one of them even collapsed. They admired the effort of these actors. -Post-production of WuJi is yet to finish, but 10 minute clip is planned to be shown at Cannes Film Festival. MonkeyPeaches (English) Sina.com (1) (Chinese) Sina.com(2) (Chinese) Sina.com(3) (Chinese) |
| Feb. 20 | Kihachi Okamoto, director of "Sukedachiya Sukeroku (Vengeance
for Sale)" passed away. See my tribute to Director Okamoto |
| Feb. 19 | Chinese info site reports that "WuJi - The Promise" after
recording started this week. Nicholas Tze and Jan Dong-Kun arrived
in Beijing on 16th and 18th respectively, and Sanada-san is scheduled
to be there on 2/21. Sohu.com article (Chinese) Sina.com article (Chinese) |
| Jan. 9 | Sanada-san attended "New York Film Critics Awards" presentation
in New York. I have no idea what function he was there for, though.
If anyone has any information, please let me know! Pictures from WireImage New York Film Critics Official Webpage |
| Jan.11 | Sanada-san recently attended the party at Makoto Wada's Poster Exibition
in Tokyo, singing karaoke with other attendees. Makoto Wada directed
four of his movies (Round About Midnight, Uneasy Encounters, Kaito
Ruby, Mahjong Vagrant Life), and he is also a leading pop-art illustrator.
Sanada-san and Wada-san are really good friends. Makoto Wada and Sanada-san info |
| Jan. 8 | Asahi.com reports his interview. He looks a bit tired in this picture,
so let's blame on the photographer. asahi.com article Summary of the article is as follows: -On last year's schedule: Last year, there were coincidentaly many works that are worth pushing myself over the limit. It took a lot of toll on me both physically and mentally, but somehow the body could manage it. -On "Aimless Aegis": I thought it has a potential to become a first-class entertainment movie with a sharp sociopolitical view on current Japan. It is very hard to be a hit in a box office while maintaining the quality and the class. Sengoku's role cannot be done just by being realistic, but at the same time it cannot be too cartoon-ish. It was difficult but worth trying. -He was attracted by the fact that it was the first big budget action movie for Director Junji Sakamoto: "Twilight Samurai" was also the first period film for Yoji Yamada, and I was so excited about the possible chemical reaction. It is a gamble, but it excites me 100 times more than a routine work. -On "WuJi": I agreed on Director Chen Kaige's idea to create an "all Asian" movie for the world market. He is an energetic guy who enjoys the adventure, so I relaxed and played around so much.. I even did "round house back kick" after so many years. -On Matsuda in "TWC": My role is a villain who leads the Japanese invasion to China. Especially now that the relationships between China and Japan is shaky, I thought the role has to be played by a Japanese actor who understands Japan well, otherwise it will worsen the misunderstanding. I participated without a translator, so I had a hard time, but I also was enjoying myself with it. -On his works in various countries: There are still many other countries with many good movie producers in the world. Thinking this way, I cannot stand still. I seem to have a light footwork still, so I want to continue challenging. |
| Jan. 5 | "US Frontline News" reports interviews of
3 leading Japanese actors, Sanada-san, Ken Watanabe and Koji Yakusho. Sanada-san's article: Hiroyuki Sanada was in Shanghai, China, all alone even without translator or manager, at the filming location of James Ivory's "White Countess." He was joking around with multi-national staff, with no signs of stiffness in his face. "I have to directly communicate with people if I am alone. It forces me to think in English, and it makes much easier to migle with others in the location. After all, things go smoother if I come by myself." After "The Last Samurai", where he showed his talent to the world, he played a role in Chen Kaige's (China) "WuJi - The Promise". In China, he experienced a high wall, difficult to overcome because it is within Asia, which was different from his past effort to make Japan understood in Hollywood. "I felt a gap between China and Japan at certain moments. But it is important for Japanese to participate (in Chinese movies) and leave the actual results. If I can build a bridge, even a wooden bridge, people can come over with much more ease." He has been challenging by going to Hollywood, and then to Asia. "It is like study overseas several times and then come back" and he did a Japanese spectacle "Aimless Aegis" (coming this summer). "I am not simply trying to go out of the country. I want to absorb new thing outside, and then make something in Japan that we can show with pride to other world. I want to keep going back and forth in that sense." In a caption to a photo: "In overseas filming, my behavior and acting become the image of Japanese. It is both pressure and power for me." More info on JGraphic Design (scroll all the way to the bottom of the page) |
