Zatoichi 2

[Henrik Sylow]

At a panel discussion at the Tokyo Filmex film festival on November 23rd,
Kitano referred to a possible sequel to Zatoichi as his "insurance." Here
are his exact comments (or rather my rough translation):

 

"If I make what I really want to make and it turns out to be a failure, I'll
do Zatoichi 2. It's like an insurance policy. If things don't go well, I can
make a claim on my insurance and recover half the cost."

 

When I spoke with Kitano in January, he told me, that he did consider making
another "hit" like Zatoichi insurrance, but had no plans of making it right
now. However, Kitano had promised Saito, that if Zatoichi became a huge
succes, he would make a sequel. Saito called in the promise in August, where
the contracts to make Zatoichi 2 were signed. Kitano began around the same
time to dye his hair blond again.

 

As far as I know, the shooting has not yet begun, partly because of the
weather, partly because of production differences between Saito and Kitano.
The original Idea was to shoot Zatoichi 2 in the fall, then to shoot his
next film in March. Now it seems, that Kitano will shoot his next film in
March, then Zatoichi 2 late spring, as Saito really would like an October
2005 (Im guessing Venice) premiere.

 

Henrik

 

PS: If anyone has a transcript of the entire symposium, please send it to
me. Pictures are also welcomed.

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