By Mark Schilling
Japan has long been Hollywood's biggest single foreign market. Paying the world's highest ticket prices and turning out in the millions for the biggest hits, Japanese moviegoers can change a US domestic disappointment into a worldwide winner.
They also respond to Hollywood glamour with an enthusiasm harder to find among celebrity-gossip-saturated Americans. In Japan Tom Cruise is, not a flake who bounced on a talk show couch to proclaim his age-inappropriate love (Oprah is unknown here), but the biggest movie star in the world, known for his devotion to things Japanese. When he presses the flesh on his frequent Japanese publicity tours, not only the fans, but the local media swoons.
Accordingly, the world premiere of a big Hollywood film has long had a larger impact in Japan than it usually does in America, which saves its swoons for star-sightings at the Oscars. The producers of Titanic may have decided to hold the world premiere at the Tokyo Film Festival almost by default, but the resulting storm of publicity here, centering on the stage appearance of Leonardo Di Caprio, propelled the film to record-shattering heights.
More recently, Matrix Reloaded (Japanese gross: $101 million), The Gangs of New York ($28 million) and The Last Samurai ($126 million) have also had their world premieres in Tokyo -- and reaped greater-than-world-average rewards.
Now the Japan distributors of Batman Begins and War of the Worlds are hoping their recent world premieres at Toho Virgin Cinema Roppongi Hills -- a theater in Tokyo's most highly trafficked shopping and entertainment complex -- will make similar box office lightening strike.
UIP, which will release War of the Worlds in Japan on 800 screens on June 29, is already sure it has a winner on its hands. "Our only real competition is Star Wars," says UIP publicist Yutaka Soga. Steven Spielberg can do little wrong in the Japanese market. Even Terminal, considered a flop in the US, grossed $38 million in Japan, while Tom Cruise is all but considered a Japanese citizen, particularly after The Last Samurai. "He really pays attention to his fans here," enthuses Soga. "That rather rare for a Hollywood star."
The box office fate of Batman Begins would seem to be more problematic; previous series installments, save for the 1989 Batman, played poorly in Japan. The Japanese media, however, flocked to the May 31 world premiere to catch a glimpse of Ken Watanabe -- the Batman Begins villain who is now a local hero for his Hollywood success. "Watanabe is a big focus of our campaign," says film publicist Ryo Kosugi. "Fans want to see him." They will have their chance on June 18, when the film opens on 560 screens nationwide.
Another plus factor for the film, says Kosugi, is director Chris Nolan's darker, straighter treatment of Batman and his world. "Except for Batman, the other films were too comic-booky for Japanese tastes," Kosugi explains. "Fans couldn't take them seriously." Still another is the film's story of a man on a mission of vengeance, who transforms himself into a hero against great odds. "Japanese love that sort of big emotional story," says Kosugi. "They're all sentimentalists at heart."
Finally, Christopher Bale's darker, more stoical take on the role will appeal to female fans, Kosugi believes. "Japanese women are attracted to guys who don't talk a lot, who have a shadow in their past." One example: Ken Takakura, who became a megastar playing past-haunted stoics who let their actions speak louder than words. But Takakura usually played gangsters, not orphaned heirs -- and never, ever wore a cape.
But why would Warner stage a world premiere -- and not the more usual, and less costly, gala opening where Watanabe and Bale could presumably work much the same PR magic? First, the Asian film market is among the fastest growing in the world -- and a Tokyo premiere attracts the Asian media serving that market. Fifty-five media organizations from every major Asian territory, including China, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong, sent reporters to the Batman Begins premiere. "It really helped to get the word out around the region," commented Kosugi.
Also, the Japanese domestic media, including major TV networks and newspapers treated the premiere as news, vastly raising its profile among ordinary Japanese. "If it had been held in New York or Hollywood, only the entertainment press would have covered it," says Kosugi. "Because we had it here, even NHK (the Japanese Beeb) had to pay attention."
The same was true of the War of the Worlds premiere, even more so: nearly 80 TV cameras, 150 photographers and representatives from 80 foreign media were present. "It had a huge impact." commented Soga. "The media here reported it the way they would a general news story."
Yet another plus factor is the Roppongi Hills location, with its large open-air, fan-accessible plaza where premiere events are held. "Roppongi Hills has become a symbol of trendy, modern Tokyo," says Kosugi. "It's the best place imaginable for a premiere." Other Asian cities also have their big multiplexes, but not in a setting like Roppongi Hills, which draws more free-spending, movie-loving young adults than any other entertainment destination in the country, including Tokyo Disneyland -- more than 26 million in its first six months of operation.
Given their successful track record, Tokyo world premieres can only increase -- but as with so many made-in-Japan trends, a rapid rise may be followed by an equally rapid fall. "But not for several years at least," comments Kosugi. "Japanese fans aren't going to get tired of them anytime soon."
