Bumblebee finally premiered in Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills ahead of its March 22nd wide release, and courtesy of Cinema Today we have two videos to share with you featuring actress Hailee Steinfeld, director Travis Knight and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. Actress Tsuchiya Tao and actor Shison Jun, members of the Japanese voice cast as Charlie and Memo, also appeared at the screening.
Play the videos attached to this post and then join in the discussion on the 2005 boards!
primalxconvoy
– https://www.quora.com/Why-does-it-take-so-long-for-Hollywood-movies-to-be-released-in-Japan
There was a great article in "Metropolis" magazine, ages ago, about why films are so late, which included other reasons:
– Releasing films in line with Japanese public holidays (which are different from the US, etc).
– The monopoly of Japanese cinema companies.
The latter was explained something like:
– No foreign competition (government collision/protection of "Japan inc", or something).
– Ticket prices kept high.
– Companies deliberately restricted amount of cinemas to increase demand.
– Less screens to show films, leading to conservative releases.
– A desire to promote Japanese films over foreign ones.
There was even a piece about how veteran translators (for subtitles, dubs, etc) don't even get to watch the films; instead they just get the audio tracks.
Anyway, it's more to do with control of the market, and with the BB film not being a "major" film (with less budget), it wasn't promoted as much or given high priority.
It's the monopolies in Japan (and "middleman" business culture) that is basically thought of as the "catch all" for most of Japan's economic and business woes. Government protection and collusion between rivals is perfectly normal (and in many cases, legal, I think), leading to high prices, control of the market and anti-consumer laws (hence the stuff penalties for piracy, the law making it illegal to rent videogames in Japan, etc).
The thing is, although (due to similar reasons, IMO), new technology is often slowly implemented in Japan, cord-cutting is starting to happen over here, and I've noticed some local cinemas fall into disrepair (although that could also be due to a rival cinema and shipping centre opening nearby).
Raiju
The other consideration is that Hasbro, TakaraTomy, and Paramount might simply see the smaller, more disappointing box office returns as a sign that the Transformers brand is weakening in Japan and most likely coorelate that with waning fan interest in the franchise.
This scenario could have the undesired effect of fewer toys and less investment in other Transformers product lines outside of the Movieverse, even such as fewer production runs and higher prices for things like Masterpiece figures.
Transformers in Japan is already a comparably small niche market and I don't think anyone here would want to see it shrink even more in the face of stiffer toy competition like Gundam. Just food for thought for those who actively want to see this movie fail for reasons outside of its own critical merits as a standalone film.
primalxconvoy
I don't. I hope most people in Japan have already watched it abroad/on the internet or will just veto it. If people in Japan start voting more with their wallets, films might actually get released on time.
AzT
hailee steinfeld on Instagram: “And it was all YELLOW ✨ #Bumblebee ”
hailee steinfeld on Instagram: “Last night at the #Bumblebee fan screening in Tokyo with Tao & Jun (the voices of Charlie & Memo) and of course T Knight and Lorenzooo. …”
ニュース|映画『バンブルビー』
SMOG
IMDB says she's 5'8, which is pretty tallish for a girl. Plus, she's probably in substantial heels, and I'm sure the Japanese voice actress is also short as well.
Just one of those moments when someone you assumed was small is actually surprisingly big. But it's not like I've been paying attention to her career. Last thing I saw her in was True Grit.
zmog
TheCianinator
Check out Hailee Steinfeld's makeup, looks like they did her up to make her look more Japanese.
Raiju
Hoping the movie does well in Japan.
Digger
Wiki says she’s 1.73m. Is that meant to be really tall?
[Wing_Saber-X]
Well maybe the Japanese vouce actress is kinda shorter…lol
SMOG
Weird. Never realized she was so tall.
zmog
weevil
Just like Chris pratt with Koichi Yamadera during GOTG vol.2 premire.
[Wing_Saber-X]
Hailee is sooo cute
Digger
Great!
AzT
hailee steinfeld on Instagram: “HI TOKYO! I’m here. I’m sleepy but I’m here. And I’m SO excited I could scream. #Bumblebee screening tonight…”
Paramount Pictures Japan: Transformers Bumblebee Movie Premiere – Transformers News – TFW2005
Gaokaiser
土屋太鳳、英語で挨拶 ヘイリー・スタインフェルドが絶賛<バンブルビー> – モデルプレス
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Gaokaiser
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Gaokaiser
『バンブルビー』公式 on Twitter
PoweredConvoy
I like that Hailee wore a yellow dress and had black painted fingernails for the premiere.
lord ginrai
The general release is so close I can smell it! Another week and a half and I can fiiiiiiinally watch the movie.