Movies
Takashi Miike’s ‘Ichi the Killer’ Has Been Restored!
Variety reports that Emperor Motion Picture has picked up sales rights to two restored classic films of modern Asian cinema: Devils on the Doorstep and Takashi Miike’s ultimate classic Ichi the Killer.
EMP has restored and revived Ichi the Killer, one of the most challenging, violent and iconic films to emerge from Japanese auteur Miike Takashi. The film was released in 2001. EMP was one of its original co-producers, alongside Japan’s Omega Project.
In the film, as sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara searches for his missing boss he comes across Ichi, a repressed and psychotic killer who may be able to inflict levels of pain that Kakihara has only dreamed of.
As exciting as this is, there’s a bit of bad news:
“Miike is prolific, but ‘Ichi the Killer’ stands out as something special,” says EMP’s head of international sales May Yip. “Unfortunately, the materials were in very poor condition as it was shot in Beta and only later converted to 35mm.”
Good news? Yip does add this juicy morsel:
“So, given that there was enduring interest and licenses expiring, we took the decision to restore it. The result will be better, even gorier.”
Restoration work on Ichi was handled by L’Immagine Rittrovata Asia, the Hong Kong branch of the Bologna, Italy-based laboratory and restoration group headed by Davide Pozzi. In recent years, the company has found that restoring Asian movies is a flourishing business as demand grows from online video and archive sources. It opened its Hong Kong unit in 2015.
Movies
‘Abigail’ on Track for a Better Opening Weekend Than Universal’s Previous Two Vampire Attempts
In the wake of Leigh Whannell’s Invisible Man back in 2020, Universal has been struggling to achieve further box office success with their Universal Monsters brand. Even in the early days of the pandemic, Invisible Man scared up $144 million at the worldwide box office, while last year’s Universal Monsters: Dracula movies The Last Voyage of the Demeter and Renfield didn’t even approach that number when you COMBINE their individual box office hauls.
The horror-comedy Renfield came along first in April 2023, ending its run with just $26 million. The period piece Last Voyage of the Demeter ended its own run with a mere $21 million.
But Universal is trying again with their ballerina vampire movie Abigail this weekend, the latest bloodbath directed by the filmmakers known as Radio Silence (Ready or Not, Scream).
Unlike Demeter and Renfield, the early reviews for Abigail are incredibly strong, with our own Meagan Navarro calling the film “savagely inventive in terms of its vampiric gore,” ultimately “offering a thrill ride with sharp, pointy teeth.” Read her full review here.
That early buzz – coupled with some excellent trailers – should drive Abigail to moderate box office success, the film already scaring up $1 million in Thursday previews last night. Variety notes that Abigail is currently on track to enjoy a $12 million – $15 million opening weekend, which would smash Renfield ($8 million) and Demeter’s ($6 million) opening weekends.
Working to Abigail‘s advantage is the film’s reported $28 million production budget, making it a more affordable box office bet for Universal than the two aforementioned movies.
Stay tuned for more box office reporting in the coming days.
In Abigail, “After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.”
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