Japan’s Gaga Corp Talks ‘Monster’ Success, US Strikes Impact & Upscale Horror, As ‘Nightborn’ Joins Busy Acquisitions Slate
06.09.2023 - 07:55
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: In a world where the space for specialist and non English-language cinema is shrinking in cinemas, it’s encouraging to see that Tokyo-based Gaga Corporation is committed to bringing a diverse range of theatrical releases to Japanese audiences.
Launched in 1986, the company is one of Japan’s longest established buyers, releasing between 20-25 films a year, with its president and CEO Tom Yoda a familiar face on the international festival and markets circuit. The company is also an active producer of Japanese films, with recent titles including Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster, which is screening as a Special Presentation in Toronto, following its Best Screenplay award in Cannes.
As Japan was moving out of the pandemic, the company says it was pleased with the box office results for acquisitions such as Todd Field’s Tar, French filmmaker Claude Zidi Jr’s opera-themed Tenor and multiple Oscar winner Everything Everywhere All At Once, with the latter title grossing around $6M (JPY850M).
Upcoming releases include a clutch of Cannes acquisitions, including Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall, along with Tran Anh Hung’s The Pot-au-Feu and Victor Erice’s Close Your Eyes; Francois Ozon crime caper The Crime Is Mine; Danny and Michael Philippou’s global horror sensation Talk To Me; and Korean titles Point Men and Confidential Assignment 2: International.
Gaga’s General Manager of acquisitions, Chizu Ogiya, tells Deadline that Talk To Me, scheduled for Japanese release in December, taps into the growing popularity of upscale horror in Japan. This trend has also encouraged the company to pre-buy Nightborn, the second feature from Finnish director Hanna Bergholm following Hatching. Repped internationally