Why Japan is SO late in foreign movies

[HaiTien78]

It's like asking why the hell movies like Returner or Casshern or Godzilla or anything else of that matter get released first in Japan with a theatrical release, and we get a DVD release stripped down with no special features an cut and re-dubbed five years later.

And why the hell did Japan have a theatrical release of Starship Troopers 3 before we ever even got it on DVD?

To answer this question:

Different sides of the world are just at different pages. It's not that big of a deal.

Pretty much different countries have different tastes. For example: America generally thinks Spider-Man 3 is crap while Japan generally thinks Spider-Man 3 is good. The same could apply to ST3.

 

[x1xBladex1x]

Reminds me, I loved Returner.

 

[Miaka975]

*shrug* it just depends on the movie

i know i saw the da vinci code in jpn the same weekend it came out in the states

but there are others that come out months later like hancock and some other stuff mummy3 and stuff

i also heard there was a movie that came out before it did in the states... but i don't remember which one it was... i have a feeling it was spiderman3 though....

--> found it http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413300/releaseinfo it was spiderman3

 

[ForeverRed]

They gotta Dub and edit the thing for Japanese Audiances -_-;

Exactly.

 

[arnoldmcguire335]

Japan got Spider-Man 3 first before the rest of the world on the May release? I mean, Japan's release was on April, right? that was a first...

oh to prove that Japan only needs toku movies and anime movies for enjoyment (and yes, they don't care if it's late in time for a new sentai):
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0962726/releaseinfo

 

[ForeverRed]

Japan got Spider-Man 3 first before the rest of the world on the May release? I mean, Japan's release was on April, right? that was a first...

oh to prove that Japan only needs toku movies and anime movies for enjoyment (and yes, they don't care if it's late in time for a new sentai):
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0962726/releaseinfo

My guess that they had Toku Spider-man TV series back in 70s, it became popular. So they release Spider-man 3 first.

I'm just saying....

 

[ryuuseipro]

Some of them come out not too long after the original release, others come out months later. Dark Knight was showing here before Iron Man, etc.

And, ironically, The Dark Knight flopped in Japan, while Iron-Man did far better!

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/08/28/japan-hates-the-dark-knight/

Devindra Hardawar really needs to do more research, though. Has he even seen a Japanese superhero!?! There's more to Japanese pop-culture than Goddamn Cowboy Bebop!

 

[Fundodo]

Because theirs is better than ours & they don't really need ours. Why focus on something somewhere else when what you have is better?

Er... right? :sly:

A few actual reasons:

1) Japan is quite a picky country, with lots of market saturation, so the marketing campaigns usually have to be completely different and local. This involves more effort and time, so usually the marketing teams wait until the end to release a major film in Japan. International success can also lead to increased attention in the Japanese market, however that's not always the case, evident by The Dark Knight which did average in Japan, and didn't help the film cross over the 1 billion barrier WB expected it to.

2) Dubbing into Japanese takes time. As its only 1 country that'll understand the dub, the other dubs (into Spanish; French; Hindi; etc.) take priority, as they'd reach more audiences (South America, Spain and Mexico; France, Switzerland, Canada; India, Pakistan, Himalayas; etc.).

3) Re-edits and clearance. Japan is an incredibly prejudiced country. Just like Western action/horror games, Western action/horror movies get edited. Sometimes foreign distributors just can't be arsed with making such an effort with the Japanese release, so they sell the rights to a local Japanese company who release the film at their own accord.

The unfortunate truth is Japan, like South Africa and the Middle East, is an afterthought -- that extra bit of profit that goes straight to the bank -- because the audience just isn't always there. And as a foreign company, it's expensive to be there.

 

[Fundodo]

My guess that they had Toku Spider-man TV series back in 70s, it became popular. So they release Spider-man 3 first.

lol, sorry to burst your bubble, it was released in 15 other countries also on May 1 2007, Japan's release wasn't anything special.

The only reason Japan got the film earlier than usual is because the film's Japanese version was ready to go for a launch on May 1 (thanks to early completion of the US version), which allowed for the perfect tie in with Japan's national holiday week.

I think the only reason it got a Japanese premiere is because it's a Sony film, and the previous two had them. Nothing more. The fact the Japanese premiere was the world premiere is nothing more than just scheduling working in Japan's favour.

 

[NAND NOR]

Because theirs is better than ours & they don't really need ours.

Why focus on something somewhere else when what you have is better?

Wasn't Casshern beaten at the Japanese box office by The Haunted Mansion with Eddie Murphy?