Why Japan is SO late in foreign movies

[HaiTien78]

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.

Right on the money.

 

[Kamen Rider Armor Ninja]

some ocassions thouhg movie of the US is being released earlier in other country's then US self.

I know Dragon Ball is going to be released earlier in Japan...

 

[Tom Constantine]

Also inb4 "JAPAN HAET HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL", Japan eats that **** up and uses it as their view on what American high school is like. Its pretty funny actually.

You mean that's not what American high schools are like?

 

[Fundodo]

I know Dragon Ball is going to be released earlier in Japan...

It is, but that's really just one exception. And it's still 5 months away, the release could change any minute.

 

[HaiTien78]

Like others have stated before me in this thread, there are some occasions where an American movie is released in other countries before it is released in the U.S.

I do know that the Dragonball film might been shown in Japan first.

Its only a one month difference, besides that release date is very likely to change.

 

[arnoldmcguire335]

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

Was it? dunno.

Also I forgot that there was a movie that was released in Japan first, America later. let me think for awhile...

 

[Fundodo]

Its only a one month difference, besides that release date is very likely to change.

Word. Dragonball goes back into production tomorrow, and it still has months and months of visual effects work left. I think Dragonball will be delayed until mid/late summer.

They can't even do a trailer yet, because none of the major action sequences have finished visual effects.

 

[HaiTien78]

They can't even do a trailer yet, because none of the major action sequences have finished visual effects.

Then what was that I saw opening with Max Payne? Really though all of this is just Fox just trying to pick up the pace, after the Teaser leaked onto the net they've been pulling back a lot of their stuff and trying to save this project from totally bombing. Well that's what my inside man says. Their budget was $100 Million, and if what I saw in theaters was the final product (which it probably wont be) I'd be wondering where half of that $100 Mil went.

 

[Fundodo]

Then what was that I saw opening with Max Payne?

There was no trailer in front of Max Payne. They announced the visual effects weren't ready, and pushed the teaser date back to December 12.

The trailer that leaked was the promotional trailer Fox made 5 months ago for the New York licensing expo. I doubt they had much to work with, the promotional trailer lacked any visual effects at all!

Your insider isn't much of one if he or she doesn't know where the budget's going. It's all on the CGI.

 

[Aoiblue]

yea, i noticed their gettin Dragon ball one month before us :shakefist