Written by Mark Schilling
Monday, 10 September 2007
TOKYO -- "Hero," a courtroom-drama-cum-romance based on a hit Fuji TV series about a rebel prosecutor, finished its first weekend at the number one spot, earning Y1.08 billion ($9.5 million dollars) on 750,000 admissions.
Released on 475 screens by distrib Toho -- a record for a Japanese pic -- "Hero" scored a sky-high screen average of $19,790. Toho now predicts the pic will finish north of $88 million and may even surpass the current number one for the year: "Pirates of the Caribbean: World's End."
Fuji TV producer Chihiro Kameyama, the mastermind behind both "Hero" and the smash hit "Bayside Shakedown" pics about cops in the trendy Tokyo Bay area, is even more upbeat, saying that "Hero" may beat "Bayside Shakedown 2," which set a record for a live-action local pic in 2003 with $152.6 million. "I am in the fortunate position of being able to break my own record," Kameyama said in a statement. "If any title, "Hero" has a great chance to be the one to achieve that status, so I'm really excited."
"Hero" began as a Fuji TV series, starring local megastar Takuya Kimura as a rule-breaking delinquent-turned-prosecutor, that racked up stupendous 30-plus ratings for every episode when it was broadcast from January to March 2001. Instead of signing Kimura and company to another season, however, Fuji dropped the show for five years, finally reviving it for a two-hour special that aired in July of 2006 -- and also scored over 30. By this time, a "Hero" feature was in the works.
In addition to Kimura and most of the original TV series cast, the pic stars Korean heartthrob Lee-Byung Hung and was shot partly in Busan. Not surprisingly, the pic will screen at the upcoming Pusan film festival and is skedded to be released on 250 screens in Korea -- a record for a Japanese pic in the territory. Other theatrical releases throughout Asia are also planned.
source: varietyasiaonline
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I'm proud of HERO~!
Oh, I really hope Kimura will come to Korea to promote HERO.
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