FUNimation Entertainment Moves into Live-Action Distribution in Acquiring Rights to Three New Titles
FUNimation Announces Love and Honor, Hana and
Genghis Khan – To the Ends of the Earth and Sea
at San Diego Comic-Con International 2007
San Diego, CA– July 25, 2007 – FUNimation® Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, and the market share leader for home entertainment sales of Japanese animation in the U.S., has acquired varied rights in North America to the following Japanese films by major entertainment studio Shochiku Co.: Love and Honor, Hana and Genghis Khan – To the Ends of the Earth and Sea.
“2006 was a great year for Japanese Cinema domestically and due to our recent success with Shinobi we have gained confidence that there is an appetite here for top-tier quality movies from Japan, “said Gen Fukunaga, president and CEO at FUNimation Entertainment. “Japan still has a lot of great stories that haven't found their way to the U.S. and we can leverage our distribution and marketing abilities to introduce those films beyond the film festival circuit. In addition to DVD release, through our FUNimation Films program we can ensure that the movies will be seen in theatres across the country.”
About the films
Love and Honor (released in Japan as Bushi No Ichibun, 2006) – A drama made by esteemed writer-director Yoji Yamada, arguably one of the current masters of the samurai genre, this film completes Japanese director Yoji Yamada's samurai trilogy. Building on The Hidden Blade (2004) and the Oscar-nominated The Twilight Samurai (2002), Love and Honor's theme is one of the common man's struggle for survival in Japan's strict caste system. The film stars Asian heartthrob Takuya Kimura as Shinnojo Mimura and Rei Dan as Kayo, his faithful wife. Yamada wrote the screenplays adapted from the Shuheu Fujisawa novels.
A top ten film in Japan at its release, Love and Honor was also nominated in various categories at film festivals around the globe. It premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival and also showed at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Genghis Khan – To the Ends of the Earth and Sea (released as Aoki Ookami, 2007) -- This full-scale Japanese epic follows the life of Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongolian Empire who took the throne in 1206. The film, adapted from a novel by Seiichi Morimura, covers Genghis' life, his battles and his relationships with women. The infamous historical figure was brought to life by director by Shinichiro Sawai and stars Takashi Sorimachi, Rei Kikukawa, Mayumi Wakamura, Yoshihiko Hakamada and Kenichi Matsuyama
Genghis Khan was introduced at Cannes in May.
Hana (released as Hana Yori Mo Naho, 2006) -- Directed, written and edited by Hirokazu Kore-Eda. Hana is Kore-Eda's first samurai film. A period film, set in 1702, Hana is a story about a samurai who tries to find an alternative way to take revenge for the death of his father. Aoki Sozaemon (played by one-time pop star Junichi Okada) is a good-hearted warrior on a reluctant mission to look for the man who killed his father. He begins to question the meaning of revenge and samurai honor. The picture also stars Rie Miyazawa, Tadanobu Asano, Arata Furuta, Teruyuki Kagawa, Susumu Terajima, Seiji Chihara, Ryuhei Ueshima, Yuichi Kimura, Tomoko Tabata, Ryo Kase, Yui Natsukawa, Yoshio Harada, Jun Kunimura, and Katsuo Nakamura.
Hana was shown at Cannes and the Toronto International Film Festival, as well as the Rotterdam, San Sebastian, Hong Kong, Vancouver, Athens, Pusan, London, Cinema Novo (Belgium), Dubai, Istanbul, Buenos Aires Independent, Hawaii, San Francisco, Portland, Sydney, Karlo Vivary, Taipei, and Osians Cinefan (India) film festivals and the Rome Asian Film Festival. Hana was also a top ten film at its release.
FUNimation Entertainment is bringing all three films to DVD in 2008.
About Shochiku
Founded in 1895, Shochiku functions as a highly-tuned vertically integrated entertainment entity, encompassing feature film and television production, theatrical distribution of Japanese and foreign motion pictures, worldwide sales, exhibition, DVD and home video distribution and the Kabuki Theater.
Shochiku operates one of the most successful motion picture divisions in Japan. The company has produced a number of critically and financially successful films, including the 2004 Academy Award ® nominee for best foreign language film, The Twilight Samurai, directed by Yoji Yamada. The first Japanese Academy Award ® nomination for a live-action film in 22 years (http://www.shochiku films.com)
About FUNimation Entertainment
FUNimation® Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, is a brand management company and one of the nation's leading independent home video entertainment companies. FUNimation has a proven formula for launching and advancing brands, and manages a full spectrum of rights for most of its brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, internet, and home video sales and distribution.
Genghis Khan – To the Ends of the Earth and Sea
at San Diego Comic-Con International 2007
San Diego, CA– July 25, 2007 – FUNimation® Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, and the market share leader for home entertainment sales of Japanese animation in the U.S., has acquired varied rights in North America to the following Japanese films by major entertainment studio Shochiku Co.: Love and Honor, Hana and Genghis Khan – To the Ends of the Earth and Sea.
“2006 was a great year for Japanese Cinema domestically and due to our recent success with Shinobi we have gained confidence that there is an appetite here for top-tier quality movies from Japan, “said Gen Fukunaga, president and CEO at FUNimation Entertainment. “Japan still has a lot of great stories that haven't found their way to the U.S. and we can leverage our distribution and marketing abilities to introduce those films beyond the film festival circuit. In addition to DVD release, through our FUNimation Films program we can ensure that the movies will be seen in theatres across the country.”
About the films
Love and Honor (released in Japan as Bushi No Ichibun, 2006) – A drama made by esteemed writer-director Yoji Yamada, arguably one of the current masters of the samurai genre, this film completes Japanese director Yoji Yamada's samurai trilogy. Building on The Hidden Blade (2004) and the Oscar-nominated The Twilight Samurai (2002), Love and Honor's theme is one of the common man's struggle for survival in Japan's strict caste system. The film stars Asian heartthrob Takuya Kimura as Shinnojo Mimura and Rei Dan as Kayo, his faithful wife. Yamada wrote the screenplays adapted from the Shuheu Fujisawa novels.
A top ten film in Japan at its release, Love and Honor was also nominated in various categories at film festivals around the globe. It premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival and also showed at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Genghis Khan – To the Ends of the Earth and Sea (released as Aoki Ookami, 2007) -- This full-scale Japanese epic follows the life of Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongolian Empire who took the throne in 1206. The film, adapted from a novel by Seiichi Morimura, covers Genghis' life, his battles and his relationships with women. The infamous historical figure was brought to life by director by Shinichiro Sawai and stars Takashi Sorimachi, Rei Kikukawa, Mayumi Wakamura, Yoshihiko Hakamada and Kenichi Matsuyama
Genghis Khan was introduced at Cannes in May.
Hana (released as Hana Yori Mo Naho, 2006) -- Directed, written and edited by Hirokazu Kore-Eda. Hana is Kore-Eda's first samurai film. A period film, set in 1702, Hana is a story about a samurai who tries to find an alternative way to take revenge for the death of his father. Aoki Sozaemon (played by one-time pop star Junichi Okada) is a good-hearted warrior on a reluctant mission to look for the man who killed his father. He begins to question the meaning of revenge and samurai honor. The picture also stars Rie Miyazawa, Tadanobu Asano, Arata Furuta, Teruyuki Kagawa, Susumu Terajima, Seiji Chihara, Ryuhei Ueshima, Yuichi Kimura, Tomoko Tabata, Ryo Kase, Yui Natsukawa, Yoshio Harada, Jun Kunimura, and Katsuo Nakamura.
Hana was shown at Cannes and the Toronto International Film Festival, as well as the Rotterdam, San Sebastian, Hong Kong, Vancouver, Athens, Pusan, London, Cinema Novo (Belgium), Dubai, Istanbul, Buenos Aires Independent, Hawaii, San Francisco, Portland, Sydney, Karlo Vivary, Taipei, and Osians Cinefan (India) film festivals and the Rome Asian Film Festival. Hana was also a top ten film at its release.
FUNimation Entertainment is bringing all three films to DVD in 2008.
About Shochiku
Founded in 1895, Shochiku functions as a highly-tuned vertically integrated entertainment entity, encompassing feature film and television production, theatrical distribution of Japanese and foreign motion pictures, worldwide sales, exhibition, DVD and home video distribution and the Kabuki Theater.
Shochiku operates one of the most successful motion picture divisions in Japan. The company has produced a number of critically and financially successful films, including the 2004 Academy Award ® nominee for best foreign language film, The Twilight Samurai, directed by Yoji Yamada. The first Japanese Academy Award ® nomination for a live-action film in 22 years (http://www.shochiku films.com)
About FUNimation Entertainment
FUNimation® Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, is a brand management company and one of the nation's leading independent home video entertainment companies. FUNimation has a proven formula for launching and advancing brands, and manages a full spectrum of rights for most of its brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, internet, and home video sales and distribution.
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