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Ryuhei Kitamura (北村 龍平, Kitamura Ryūhei) (born May 30, 1969) is a Japanese filmmaker.

This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (June 2014)

Ryuhei Kitamura
Born	(1969-05-30) May 30, 1969 (age 53) Osaka, Japan
Occupation	Filmmaker

Biography

Early life

Kitamura was born in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. He dropped out of high school at age 17 and relocated to Sydney, Australia, where he attended a school for visual arts.[1] His first film as director was the short Exit, which he made as his graduation piece at age 19.

Career

After graduating, he returned to Japan to establish Napalm Films, his independent production studio. His featurettes Down to Hell and Heat after Dark were successful in film festivals, and he soon found his first mainstream success with the cult film Versus.[2] The film launched the career of stars Tak Sakaguchi and Hideo Sakaki, and brought Kitamura international recognition when it was released on DVD outside Japan in 2004.[1]

In 2002, Kitamura directed the short film The Messenger: Requiem for the Dead as part of the Jam Films project, as well as Alive. In 2003, he directed a feature film adaptation of the manga Azumi, and Sky High, a prequel to the popular Japanese television drama.[3] He collaborated with director Yukihiko Tsutsumi in the Duel Project, in which the two challenged one another to produce the best dueling movie with minimal production time and budget, with Aragami being Kitamura's contribution. Also in 2003, Kitamura served as producer for the film Battlefield Baseball, the directorial debut of Versus co-writer Yūdai Yamaguchi. Kitamura directed 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars,[1] the 28th installment in the renowned kaiju franchise. The film was the first of Kitamura's projects to hold its premiere in Hollywood.[4] In 2006, Kitmura directed LoveDeath, before relocating to Los Angeles, California.[5]

In 2003, he directed the in-game cutscenes for Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, a remake of the iconic Metal Gear Solid for the Nintendo Gamecube. Unlike previous titles in the series, The Twin Snakes was developed by Silicon Knights and produced by Konami. The game featured similar mechanics to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty due to having been made on the same engine. Kitamura's direction of the cutscenes was viewed as controversial, criticism leveled at its Matrix-like action tone and unrealistic stunts performed by the characters. Regardless, it went on to receive positive reviews from video game review sites.[6]

In 2008, Kitamura made his American filmmaking debut with Midnight Meat Train based on Clive Barker's short horror story of the same name.[7] The film (starring Bradley Cooper, Vinnie Jones, and Brooke Shields) was distributed by Lionsgate, and released directly to the secondary market on August 1, 2008.[8][9] Despite receiving positive reviews from critics,[10] the film was a box office failure. Kitamura's next directorial venture did not come until 2012 with No One Lives, starring Luke Evans and Adelaide Clemens. It was shown as part of the Midnight Madness portion of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival,[11] and received a limited theatrical release on May 10, 2013.

While promoting No One Lives, Kitamura announced that he was working on his "comeback" film in Japan, stating in an interview, "It’s a completely different role than what I’ve done before. It’s also not a bloody movie, not a horror movie. It’s a big action movie."[12] In November, 2013, the project was revealed to be Lupin III, a modern adaptation of the iconic manga by Monkey Punch.[13] The film was released in Japan on August 30, 2014.

Kitamura's 2017 thriller film, Downrange, was announced to premiere at Toronto International Film Festival in September 2017. The film follows a group of people on a road trip who are trapped on a country road by a sniper.[14] In 2018, Kitamura directed a segment in the anthology horror film Nightmare Cinema.[15]

Future projects

Kitamura is set to direct the slasher film Black Friday 3D, based on a screenplay by Joe Knetter.[16] He is also attached to direct Marble City, a revenge film written by Tom Sjolund,[17] as well as Gun Monkeys, from a screenplay by Lee Goldberg based on the novel by Victor Gischler.^{[citation needed]} In May 2013, Kitamura confirmed that he has written the script for Versus 2, and that Tak Sakaguchi would likely reprise his role from the original film.[18] In September 2015, it was announced that Kitamura will direct the supernatural thriller Vessels for Ubiquity Studios, set to be filmed in early 2016.[19]

Personal life

Kitamura speaks English fluently. His favorite Godzilla film is Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), and his favourite kaiju is King Caesar. He has expressed admiration for fellow Japanese director Shunji Iwai, asserting that the film Swallowtail Butterfly is "the best Japanese movie ever made."[7] He has stated that his "dream project" would be to direct an installment in the Mad Max film franchise.[7]

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1988	Exit	Yes			Short film
1996	Heat After Dark	Yes	Yes		Short film
1997	Down to Hell	Yes	Yes	Yes	Short film Role: Ponytail Thug
2000	Versus	Yes	Yes		Feature film debut
2002	Alive	Yes	Yes
	The Messenger[lower-alpha 1]	Yes	Yes		Short film
2003	Aragami	Yes	Yes
	Azumi	Yes
	Battlefield Baseball			Yes
	Sky High	Yes
2004	Sakurajima	Yes			Video documentary
	Longinus	Yes	Yes		Short film
	Godzilla: Final Wars	Yes			Role: Radio DJ
2006	LoveDeath	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Romance Novel	Yes			TV film Co-directed w/ Etsushi Toyokawa
2008	The Midnight Meat Train	Yes			Hollywood debut
	Yoroi Samurai Zombie		Yes
2009	Baton	Yes
2012	No One Lives	Yes
2014	Lupin the 3rd	Yes
2017	Downrange	Yes
2018	Nightmare Cinema	Yes			Mashit segment
2020	The Doorman	Yes
2022	The Price We Pay	Yes
2022	The Three Sisters of Tenmasou Inn	Yes

Video games

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
2004	Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes	Yes			in-game cutscenes

Notes

References

External links

• Ryuhei Kitamura Official Site (available in Japanese and English)
• Ryuhei Kitamura at IMDb

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