Cannes Slots May Give Japanese Auteurs Box Office Boost at Home

variety.com:

Mark Schilling Japan Correspondent Two Japanese films by internationally renowned auteurs — “Monster” by Koreeda Hirokazu and “Kubi” by Kitano Takeshi — are in the Cannes lineup this year, and both carry with them big box office expectations in Japan.  “Monster,” which is screening in competition, will be released on June 2 by Gaga and Toho, the latter Japan’s largest distributor and theater chain operator.

Koreeda’s two previous films — “The Truth” (2019), shot in France, and “Broker” (2022), filmed South Korea — were both box office disappointments in his home market. “Monster,” however, promises a return to the earnings form of his 2018 Palme d’Or winner “Shoplifters,” whose $34 million cumulative total was the fourth-highest among Japanese releases that year.

One reason: The screenplay is by Sakamoto Yuji, a veteran writer of hit TV dramas and films, including the 2021 smash romantic drama “We Made a Beautiful Bouquet.” The story of “Monster,” about a quarrel between elementary school children that results in repercussions for the adults around them, is a Sakamoto original, but plays to Koreeda’s strengths, especially his knack for eliciting outstanding performances from his underage actors.

Also contributing to local media and fan interest in the film is the score by late composer Sakamoto Ryuichi, a major figure on the domestic and international music scene for decades, who won the original score Oscar for the 1987 Bernardo Bertolucci period drama “The Last Emperor.”  While “Monster” had long been tagged for a Cannes competition slot, the selection of the samurai drama “Kubi” for the Cannes Premiere section was something of a surprise.