Battle Royale Remake News
Last month, Scott told you about New Line's planned remake of the cult-classic Japanese film Battle Royale. It turns out that contrary to what was reported by our source, Variety, the studio has not completed acquiring the rights just yet. But otherwise the Americanized version is on its way toward production. So far, fans of the original are outraged at the idea and many people are baffled at how New Line is going to handle the violent story of a class of 9th graders who have to kill each other. Surely, they think New Line is going to screw it up by toning it down.The New York Times talked with Roy Lee, who has produced remakes of the Asian films The Grudge, Dark Water, The Lake House and The Ring, and who is now producing Battle Royale, about the issues of the film's content and what we might expect from his version. It will take place in America (like all his remakes save for The Grudge) and will still be about high school students. Lee said that to tone down the story, he could make it so the students are in jail (or juvie?) at the beginning, but he sees that as pointless. He also assures that the film will be R-rated -- with a very hard R -- because the original would have received an NC-17 if released in the U.S. Finally he admits to being a huge fan of the original and has no intentions of ruining it with a bad film.
We can all breath easier now, right?. I mean, he must just not have been a huge fan of his other remakes, right? That's why they were bad films (okay, The Ring was okay). Personally, I'm still not assured that Lee will be able to appropriately handle the material over here.









Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-09-2006 @ 11:36AM
T. said...
I'm just worried about the One Tree Hill-like emo teen actors they're likely to use for this.
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7-09-2006 @ 3:38PM
Finished.Law.School said...
I guarantee that if you have seen the original you will be disappointed at how they fuck this remake up. Japanese culture is why this film was made there and worked. American culture and things like Columbine will prevent this from making its way to the theater intact much less being as entertaining as the original.
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7-09-2006 @ 7:17PM
kel said...
I'm really curious to see what they do to this film in America. I don't believe that this is the masterpiece that many claim it is. After the inital shock of the first kids getting killed (which I agree was amazing), the rest of it seemed rather pointless. So go ahead, feel free to fuck it up.
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7-09-2006 @ 7:31PM
culturalelite said...
I don't want to be a raging fanboy. but this remake will suck balls. FACT. I'm sorry, I don't mind remakes, I enjoyed dawn of the dead and Hills have eyes, but so far everything this guy has produced has been non-sensical garbage. Half the time it's like he hasn't even watched the film, he just heard the title.
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7-09-2006 @ 7:45PM
kris said...
this remake is absolutely unnecessary. if they wanted to make money, they should just try and acquire the rights to the original and put that into movie theaters. the fact that a "huge fan" of this movie sees fit to remake it means that there's someone with a lot of money and no respect for the film behind it...which really sickens me.
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7-09-2006 @ 8:38PM
David said...
Why bother spending millions of money on a remake that will probably barely break even when they could just bring the original and potentially make some money. Even if it was rated NC-17 and made a total of $40,000,000 that would still be more profitable than Poseiden (This statement is merely a guess, I just can't imagine that flick made back it's cost).
What makes me really sick is that I will probably go watch this inevitable piece of crap. If Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon can make money here why not give other Japanes imports a try. I am tired of this "American Made Only" attitude in Hollywood.
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7-10-2006 @ 11:12AM
Marilyn said...
Why bother making a remake? As far as I know, it's going to suck like no tomorrow. I've seen the original movie and I loved it. If they really want to remake it, they should leave it as it is, otherwise, they can save that money for another crapass flick.
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7-10-2006 @ 2:50PM
Bill said...
I'm pumped for this for ONE reason... When this comes out they'll HAVE to finally release the original on DVD in the states. It'll be too good of an opportunity to make a bunch of money that they won't be able to resist.
CTHD is Chinese. Those folks don't appreciate being mixed up with each other. What with the history of brutal conflict and all.
Oh, and the "American Made Only" attitude isn't Hollywood... it's about 80% of the American public. Hollywood just follows the money.
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7-14-2006 @ 3:24PM
Mike said...
>
Err... Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon wasn't a Japanese movie...
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7-19-2006 @ 10:01AM
Dismental said...
I am outragged at this. If they remake this movie with the students coming out of jail or juvie, I will go ballistic. That is what made the movie great, all the variety of the students (Preps to Troublemakers). Hey, if your pumped about this so you can get the original version on DVD, your an idiot. I have seen this movie at Borders, Best Buy, and on tons of sites online. Make sure the DVD you get is Region 0 NTSC if you are in America. I will check it out, and will most likely hate it. I was eventually hopimg to make my own version of if. I taking the best parts from the movie and the novel (which is a classic book, read it even if you don't like to read). This movie will get tons of money the first 2 or 3 days then it will be out of theaters the following week. Just watch, it will happen. Check out my Battle Royale website if you think I don't know what I'm talking about. The URL is www.freewebs.com/battleroyaleisle.
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7-19-2006 @ 5:05PM
ben said...
okay..this pisses me off....an americanized version!?!
what is that about? could one be so dumb as to make a movie without reading the book!!
out of fear for what butchery will come if this movie comes out, i will try to explain why it wont be battle royale in america...
MAIN PLOT OF BOOK!! THE IMPORTANT PART!!
(warning...might ruin book a bit..)
okay...so in japan..the youth is out of controll...the japanese government feas them because they have been influenced by american culture, music and values. to silence the youth, they put them on the island to kill eachother...THE JAPANESE IN THE BOOK HATE!! AMERICA!! does nobody else notice this!?
point 2:
there is an important message to the story...and i know for a fact that it will be ruined...
With the youth in the book acting similarly to how the youth really are acting...the book predicted that it would get out of hand..so it pushed a resolution to the problem by creatign the milenium educational reform act...the BR ACT... this story was about how out of controll the kids today are...i am telling you this as a 16 year old! i even see it and i am one! this book could be seen as a warning that things are going to hell in a picnic basket now, and people need to open their eyes past the blood to see this!
DONT RUIN TEH CLASSICS!
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8-11-2006 @ 10:58PM
Cerri said...
"I'm really curious to see what they do to this film in America. I don't believe that this is the masterpiece that many claim it is. After the inital shock of the first kids getting killed (which I agree was amazing), the rest of it seemed rather pointless. So go ahead, feel free to fuck it up."
Errr...only if you aren't aware of the full context of the story. The eleventh post has it all right. The point of the book was to illustrate an out-of-control youth being "fixed" by an even more extreme ruling. The Program (as called in the novel and manga) was the ultimate plot device to tell kids that there's a time to not trust and fight against adults, especially the government, and to be aware of what goes on in their society. That's not going to fly well with the American majority. The people who will enjoy this are more likely to be mindless tools who just want crazy violence but would never think to read the full story in it's novel form, rather than the original fans of BR.
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8-14-2006 @ 12:22AM
Ryan said...
It seems like almost no one here has read the actual book, including the makers of the original film! The movie was nothing compared to the masterpiece that the book was. In the movie, characters had different weapons then they had in the book, they died different ways, and everything happened very differently. It seems that Roy Lee hasn't even read the book, so the American version will probably screw it up horribly. But the Japanese version didn't do much better. Maybe, some day if we're lucky, they'll make a version that follows the story that Koushun Takami intended. And it'll have some awesome Bruce Springsteen music too.
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8-23-2006 @ 6:07AM
RiouHasAShu said...
"The movie was nothing compared to the masterpiece that the book was. In the movie, characters had different weapons then they had in the book, they died different ways, and everything happened very differently. It seems that Roy Lee hasn't even read the book, so the American version will probably screw it up horribly. But the Japanese version didn't do much better."
Thank god, finally someone that sees things the way I do. I thought the original BR movie was a disgrace...I wouldn't go to the extent of saying Roy Lee hadn't read the book but it defenitely seems like he skimmed through it. They changed everything, adding to what you said...the entire reason the Program was enacted, the ending (lame in movie), and even the plot flow were completely different in the movie. I'm hoping (even though it will be american)...it will be more true to such an amazing novel than the original BR movie was.
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8-27-2006 @ 9:45PM
Veneawen said...
This can't and will not work on so many levels. Like other comments said, kids killing other kids on a level like on BR is not going to be acceptable in America which is probably why they will hire 20 to 25 year olds to play 14 year old kids. Part of what makes the movie and book shocking is the kids age. Plus unless they hire no name actors the movie will lose a lot as well. Setting it in a prison is useless because the book and movie are showing how "innocent" children can become corrupted. Also there is absolutely no need what so ever for a remake, we didn't even need a BR2. I love the book and the movie doesn't follow it exactly but I think Kinji Fukasuku (sp?) did an awesome job along with the young actors. And when the Americanized movie comes out I don't think i can stand the thought of teens who only like the movie for its blood and violence buying Battle Royale shirts at Hot Topic and never really appreciating it for its views on human and social behavior.
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9-15-2006 @ 11:10PM
jazmin said...
Well i will say that yes the original movie was great, the book is amazing, and the remake...Well you never know it might surprise us. And agree with one of the comments already place that they will have to edit the whole concept of the movie. Beacuse in the original movie the whole reason that they went to the island is because of thier government. I dont know how they would pull that off and still make it an O.K plot. Oh and i am also happy that they will be putting the original movie *and hopefully* the book!!!! ^_^
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9-20-2006 @ 4:26AM
Dr Renfield said...
This is what happens when imbeciles with money are allowed to remake great movies and dumb them down for other imbeciles. The core concepts of BR cannot be brought to the screen in the USA. The mentality of that nation dictates that it will be turned into a valueless splatterfest with all the roles played by 'juveniles' who are pushing thirty. The USA is not ready to see kids killing kids, it will not accept the anti-American message of the original author or permit teenagers in the audience to question their government and its methods.
Take away the original's messages, uproot it from the culture that inspired it and what do you have left? A title, buckets of fake blood and a short run at the box office (short because even imbeciles can eventually spot the difference between shit and shinola).
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11-04-2006 @ 7:23AM
Capella said...
Nice idea of them to do a remake but... I think they've done it in the wrong country. They should set it in the UK instead as it would give much more power to the issues raised by the original film such as lack of connection between adults and teenagers. It would also be much more topical too given that in a recent study done in Europe that british adults are more likely to be afraid of teenagers than in other European countries.
However... seeing as they definetly won't do that I'm expecting just another (maybe emotional) gore fest, which may be mindless fun but just won't have the power of the original film.
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11-26-2006 @ 1:49PM
DevilByDark said...
this may just be the worst idea america has ever had, apart from george.w.bush. i for one will go to see this movie just so i can abuse it afterwards. the original is my favourite movie. okay, requiem sucked but they have no right to fuck up the first one. this is gonna suck balls. who agrees? DevilByDark
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12-22-2006 @ 4:43PM
Mark said...
"it will not accept the anti-American message of the original author"
I'm not sure you've read the book. In it, the plot leaned heavily on a Pro-American Stance, very much in favours of the freedoms of that nation, characterized through Rock N Roll and Brusce Springsteen ^_^. BUT obviously moving the movie to the U.S cannot logically work in canon with book or movie. I mean, it's America, why would the youth there ever be jealous of any other country on the planet? *rolls eyes* Even if they come up with soem sort of logical country to pick, it won't sell because Us viewers don't want to see anything that suggests there country isn't perfect.
I have little doubt that this version will Bastardize both a superb book and a good, if not exactly true to the book, film, for several reasons.
1. Pure and simple, most americans aren't ready to see kids, killing other kids. So they will inevitably all be played by thirty year olds, with the violence being toned down a little. Cause if there not played by kids, that makes it all better. According to the American Film Industry. But, eh, it won't becuase it will take away from one of the best elements of the jap book and film, that being the warped innocence of every student involved. Admittedly there's one or two actors out there who could pull this off. But 40? I don't think so.
2. Why would the Br Act be brought in in America? A logical reason would be as a result of Columbine. But it's still a way too tetchy subject, and even if they did write it in, the government would not allow it. In fact I don't see how they'll allow this movie to be released at all. Unless of course terrorists "kidnap" the kids and force them to play this game. Then everyone's happy. Well except fans of the original. But who cares? The company will be rolling in dosh because of a few action scenes, and the government will be able to further use propaganda against "terrorists."
So basically, when this movie does come out at all, don't expect to see anything even slightly resembling Battle Royale. Expect to see a studios attempt to capatalize on a good concept, without pissing the government off, too afraid to go the whole nine yards andcause a little controversy.
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