Four months after its opening in Japan, Shin Kamen Rider is finally making its way to theatres in Southeast Asia. The live-action feature by Hideaki Anno, best known for his work on the Evangelion Neon Genesis franchise, will open in Singapore on 20 July, with a special fan screening scheduled for 8 July.
Other new dates for the region include Indonesia (28 June), Malaysia, and Philippines (both 6 July), but these three markets won’t have a fan screening. As previously announced, Hong Kong will screen the film on 22 June.
Shin Kamen Rider premiered in Japan on 17 March, and ranked second on the box office in its opening weekend. The movie earned 542 million yen in its first three days, before raking in a cumulative total of 2.1 billion yen, making it the first entry in the Kamen Rider franchise to surpass the two-billion mark, and the highest-grossing film in its history.
Sousuke Ikematsu (Death Note: Light Up the New World) stars as Takeshi Hongo aka Kamen Rider in the live-action flick, while Minami Hamabe (Ajin, anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day) plays Ruriko Midorikawa. Produced to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kamen Rider, Shin Kamen Rider follows a man and his female cohort as they attempt to destroy the illegal organisation responsible for his conversion into a mutant cyborg, and put a stop to their plans to conquer society.
The movie is the third reboot of a tokusatsu series — a Japanese term for live-action films or television programmes that make use of practical special effects — to be adapted by Anno, who was in-charge of directing, writing, and producing. Prior to this, the industry veteran worked on Shin Godzilla and Shin Ultraman, which together with Shin Kamen Rider and Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, are all part of the Shin Japan Heroes Multiverse.
Much like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the ongoing project collaboration between Toho, Khara, Tsuburaya Productions, and Toei serves to reunite the films that Anno had worked on with the “Shin” title for merchandising purposes. The latest addition to its toy line-up is the S.J.H.U PROJECT Shin Universe Robo, which physically combines iconic characters and machines from the four properties.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Natalie
