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London- and Paris-based production, finance and sales company Film Constellation is reporting a raft of sales from Berlin on chef drama “Grande Maison Paris,” a standalone feature film from the world of Japanese hit series “La Grande Maison: Tokyo.”

The film has sold in Taiwan (Cai Chang), South Korea (Media Castle), Mainland China (DDDream), Hong Kong and Macau (First Distributors), Thailand (Sf Cinema), Spain (A Contracorriente Films), Cis (Arna Media), and Israel (YesDBS), with additional territories in South East Asia, and Eastern Europe in negotiations.

Toho and Sony Pictures Entertainment released the film in Japan early in January, where it has now grossed over $26 million (4 billion yen), making it one of the early local hits of this year.

Sony Pictures Entertainment releases in France, with other international releases beginning in March 2025.

Set in the high-stakes world of Parisian culinary excellence, the film stars Japanese icon Takuya Kimura, reprising his lead role from the series,...

The 67th edition of the Blue Ribbon Awards, presented by the Association of Tokyo Film Journalists, has announced its winners on January 28, 2025. The nominees and winners are selected from movies released in 2024 by members of the Association who are film reporters from seven sports newspapers in Tokyo. Indie movie “A Samurai in Time” was the surprise hit last year and has picked up a double win for Best Film and Best Actor. Likewise for Yu Irie‘s “A Girl Named Ann” bagging the Best Director and Best Actress awards.

Best Film

A Girl Named Ann

Abudeka Is Back

Let’s Go Karaoke!

52-Hertz Whales

A Samurai in Time

11 Rebels

Faceless

All the Long Nights

Last Mile

Look Back

Best Director

Yu Irie – A Girl Named Ann

Kazuya Shiraishi – 11 Rebels, Bushido

Ayuko Tsukahara – Last Mile, La Grande Maison Paris

Michihito Fujii – Faceless, 18×2 Beyond Youthful Days

Junichi Yasuda – A Samurai in Time

Best...

Japan’s box office fell 6.5% to $1.33bn (¥207bn) in 2024 due to a large drop in takings for US features, despite strong earnings for local titles.

Overall admissions were 7.1% down to 144.4 million, according to data published by the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (Eiren). The figures remain some distance from pre-pandemic 2019, when the gross box office was $1.55bn (¥242bn) from 195 million admissions.

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It was a positive picture for Japanese films, which took $1bn (¥156bn) at the local box office, up 5.1% year-on-year and comprising 75% of total takings. Topping the chart was anime Detective Conan: The Million-dollar Pentagram,...

Domestic features led the Japan box office in 2024 with no live-action titles from outside the country making the top 10.

In the year since December 2023, eight of the Japan’s top 10 highest-grossing films were produced domestically, with only two US features – Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 – making the list.

Significantly, no live-action features from outside the country made the top 10, a sign that Hollywood tentpoles are having difficulty penetrating Japan’s cinematic market.

Recent years have seen titles such as Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023), Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Fast & Furious 9 (2021) and Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2020) perform strongly in Japan.

The live-action film adaptation of Akane Shimizu's manga series Cells at Work! opened across Japan on December 13. The movie directed by Hideki Takeuchi ( Thermae Romae live-action film series) earned 844 million yen (5.48 million Usd) on 611,000 admissions between Friday and Sunday, making a first-place debut in the weekend box office ranking, according to the film's official website . The opening box office performance ranks third among live-action Japanese films released in 2024, behind Kingdom: Return of the Great General in July ( 1.629 billion yen ) and Last Mile in August ( 978 million yen ). Till We Meet Again on the Lily Hill , the most successful live-action Japanese film released last December, ultimately earned 4.5 billion yen from its total domestic run. The movie also ranked third in Filmarks' first-day satisfaction ranking with an average rating of 3.88/5.0 based on 2,213 reviews. Following the TV anime series and a short anime film produced by Toei Animation, a live-action film adaptation of...

As 2024 is drawing to a close, “Last Mile” by Ayuko Tsukahara still holds its place in the top-40 of this year’s highest-grossing domestic productions, despite its untimely release in late August. However, it is debatable whether such achievement should be something Japanese cinema enthusiasts should rejoice for, as this is telling of the state of health of an industry where films keep borrowing features from TV entertainment, rather than finding ways to innovate their own language.

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With Black Friday sales around the corner, Japan’s largest shopping website calls in manager Elena Funado (Hikari Mitsushima) from Fukuoka to be in charge of the Kanto area delivery center, whose expected volume of orders threatens to make the supply chain default. Backed by somewhat skeptical yet obedient deputy Ko Nashimoto (Masaki Okada), the first day seems to be going just well, until the news of some parcel...

The Boy and The Heron became a worldwide sensation at the time of its release. There were many characters in it, who caught fans’ attention, but the Great Uncle stood out for his headstrong beliefs and his domineering presence. The character wouldn’t have been nearly as convincing without Shohei Hino, the actor who played him in the film.

Mahito and the Great Uncle in The Boy and The Heron | Credits: Studio Ghibli

Unfortunately, Hino passed away on November 14th at the age of 75. While his performance as the Great Uncle undoubtedly left an indelible mark, it was not all he was known for. Hino had dabbled with everything from acting and music to theater and voice acting. Fans knew him from his different creative endeavors in life. There was no limit to his talents and he brought various characters and art forms to life with brilliance.

Shohei Hino Passes...

Exclusive: Here’s first-footage of Paris-set chef drama Grande Maison Paris, the standalone feature spinoff from the world of Japanese hit series La Grande Maison: Tokyo.

Set in the high stakes world of Parisian culinary excellence, the film is led by Japanese star Takuya Kimura (Blade of the Immortal) reprising his lead role from the series, and popular Korean actor and rapper from band2PM Ok Taec-yeon (Hansan: Rising Dragon).

Three Michelin star Japanese chef Kei Kobayashi (of Paris restaurant Kei) created the film’s cuisine. Pic gets its world premiere at the upcoming San Sebastián Film Festival.

Toho will release in Japan. Sony Pictures International Productions will release in France, with London and Paris-based finance, production and sales company Film Constellation handling international sales.

The official synopsis reads: “Famous Japanese chef Obana (Takuya Kimura) opens a new restaurant in Paris in the quest for his elusive third Michelin star.

Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s high-anticipated “The Platform 2,” the Basque director’s follow-up to Netflix mega-hit “The Platform,” will world premiere this September at the San Sebastián film festival, closing its culinary section.

Subject of a high-profile acquisition by Netflix at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival, engineered by CAA Media Finance, XYZ Films and Latido Films, “The Platform” has gone on to shoot to the near top of Netflix’s chart of non-English film hits on record, now featuring as No. 5 with 82.8 million views, thanks to its terrorific mix of futurist dystopian sci-f and redolent social allegory wrapped in a brutal survival thriller. That comes from the set-up: a vertical prison, with hundreds of floors, with every day a stone dumbwaiter descending with food left over from tenants above. Higher-level inmates gorge themselves; those below face starvation, suicide or cannibalism.

That structure looks to be retained in “The Platform 2,” set for release on Netflix on Oct.