(born May 30, 1969) is a Japanese film director, producer, and screenwriter.

Biography

Early life

Kitamura was born in

Osaka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture ...

, Japan. He dropped out of

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

at age 17 and relocated to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia, where he attended a school for visual arts. 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 In the American film industry, a featurette is a kind of film that is shorter than a full-length feature, but longer than a short film. The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film. Medium-length film ...

''Down to Hell'' and ''Heat after Dark'' were successful in film festivals, and he soon found his first mainstream success with the

cult film A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage ...

'' Versus''. The film launched the career of stars

Tak Sakaguchi is a Japanese actor, director, fight choreographer, stuntman and martial artist. He is best known for his role in Ryuhei Kitamura's cult film, '' Versus''. Since his debut, Sakaguchi has worked with Kitamura several times, often appearing al ...

and

Hideo Sakaki (born June 4, 1970) is a Japanese actor and director. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Japanese cult films '' Versus'', '' Battlefield Baseball'', and ''Alive''. He is a close friend of director Ryuhei Kitamura and appears in several ...

, and brought Kitamura international recognition when it was released on DVD outside Japan in 2004. In 2002, Kitamura directed the short film ''The Messenger: Requiem for the Dead'' as part of the ''

Jam Films ''Jam Films'' and its sequels are collections of short films, each by a different Japanese director. ''Jam Films'' ''Jam Films'' is a 2002 suite of 7 shorts produced by Sega/Amuse (various production companies participated in the production of the ...

'' project, as well as ''

Alive Alive may refer to: *Life Books, comics and periodicals * ''Alive'' (novel), a 2015 novel by Scott Sigler * '' Alive: The Final Evolution'', a 2003 shonen manga by Tadashi Kawashima and Adachitoka * '' Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors'', ...

''. In 2003, he directed a feature film adaptation of the

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

Azumi is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yū Koyama. Its story concerns the title character, a young woman brought up as part of a team of assassins, charged with killing the warlords that threaten the uneasy peace in Feudal Jap ...

'', and '' Sky High'', a prequel to the popular Japanese

television drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms t ...

.Gifford, Kevin. "Azumi". ''Newtype USA''. 5 (11) p. 154. . . He collaborated with director

Yukihiko Tsutsumi is a Japanese television and film director. He began directing commercials and music promotion videos as an employee of Nihon Television. After spending time abroad, he returned and started his own production company, ''Office Crescendo'', from w ...

in the

Duel Project Duel Project was a challenge issued to Ryuhei Kitamura and Yukihiko Tsutsumi by producer Shinya Kawai during a night of drinking. The challenge was for the two directors to see who could make the best feature film with two principal actors/actresse ...

, 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 is a Japanese film director who has worked mainly in the comedy and horror genres. He has "made a name for himself by mixing goofy gore with manga-esque escapades and plain utter weirdness". Life and career Yamaguchi was born in 1971 and attend ...

. Kitamura directed 2004's '' Godzilla: Final Wars'', the 28th installment in the renowned kaiju franchise. The film was the first of Kitamura's projects to hold its premiere in Hollywood. In 2006, Kitmura directed ''LoveDeath'', before relocating to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. In 2003, he directed the in-game cutscenes for '' Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes'', a remake of the iconic

Metal Gear Solid is a series of techno-thriller stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX home computers. The player often takes control of a special forces opera ...

for the

Nintendo GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

. Unlike previous titles in the series, ''The Twin Snakes'' was developed by

Silicon Knights Silicon Knights was a Canadian video game developer. Founded in 1992 by Denis Dyack, the company was headquartered in St. Catharines, Ontario. They started developing for computers such as the Atari ST and IBM PC compatibles. After 1996, they mo ...

and produced by

Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...

. 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 Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** ''The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchis ...

''-like action tone and unrealistic stunts performed by the characters. Regardless, it went on to receive positive reviews from video game review sites. In 2008, Kitamura made his American filmmaking debut with ''

Midnight Meat Train ''The Midnight Meat Train'' is a 2008 American horror film based on Clive Barker's 1984 short story of the same name, which can be found in Volume One of Barker's collection ''Books of Blood''. The film follows a photographer who attempts to trac ...

'' based on

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...

's short horror story of the same name. The film (starring

Bradley Cooper Bradley Charles Cooper (born January 5, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and two Grammy Awards, in addition to nominations for nine Academy Awards, si ...

Vinnie Jones Vincent Peter Jones (born 5 January 1965) is a British actor, presenter, and former professional footballer. Jones played professionally as a defensive midfielder from 1984 to 1999, notably for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chels ...

, and Brooke Shields) was distributed by

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

, and released directly to the

secondary market The secondary market, also called the aftermarket and follow on public offering, is the financial market in which previously issued financial instruments such as stock, bonds, options, and futures are bought and sold. The initial sale of the s ...

on August 1, 2008. Despite receiving positive reviews from critics, the film was a box office failure. Kitamura's next directorial venture did not come until 2012 with ''

No One Lives ''No One Lives'' is a 2012 American horror film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura. It stars Luke Evans and Adelaide Clemens. The film premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2012, and had a limited release on May 10, 2 ...

'', starring

Luke Evans Luke George Evans (born 15 April 1979) is a Welsh actor and singer. He began his career on the stage, performing in many of London's West End productions such as ''Rent'', ''Miss Saigon'', and '' Piaf'' before making his film breakthrough in ...

and

Adelaide Clemens Adelaide Clemens (born 30 November 1989) is an Australian actress. She was nominated for a Logie Award in 2008 for her role in the television series ''Love My Way''. In 2012, she played Valentine Wannop in BBC's television miniseries adaptation ...

. It was shown as part of the Midnight Madness portion of the

2012 Toronto International Film Festival The 37th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 6 and September 16, 2012. TIFF announced the films that were accepted on August 21, 2012. On its 37th edition the TIFF included a 2 ...

, 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." In November, 2013, the project was revealed to be ''

Lupin III , also written as ''Lupin the Third'', ''Lupin the 3rd'', or ''Lupin the IIIrd'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Monkey Punch. It follows the endeavors of master thief Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsèn ...

'', a modern adaptation of the iconic

Monkey Punch , known by the pen name , was a Japanese manga artist, best known for his series ''Lupin III''. Life and career Katō was born in Hamanaka, Hokkaido; he began drawing at a very young age, but did not draw manga until junior high school, when h ...

. The film was released in Japan on August 30, 2014. Kitamura's 2017 thriller film, ''

Downrange Downrange, or down range, is the horizontal distance traveled by a spacecraft, or the spacecraft's horizontal distance from the launch site. More often, it is used as an adverb or adjective specifying the direction of that travel being measure ...

'', 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. In 2018, Kitamura directed a segment in the anthology horror film ''

Nightmare Cinema ''Nightmare Cinema'' is a 2018 American horror anthology film featuring work by directors Alejandro Brugués, Joe Dante, Mick Garris, Ryūhei Kitamura, and David Slade. Plot Five strangers converge at a haunted movie theater owned by T ...

''.

Future projects

Kitamura is set to direct the

slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...

''Black Friday 3D'', based on a screenplay by Joe Knetter. He is also attached to direct ''Marble City'', a revenge film written by Tom Sjolund, as well as ''Gun Monkeys'', from a screenplay by

Lee Goldberg Lee Goldberg is an American author, screenwriter, publisher and producer known for his bestselling novels ''Lost Hills'' and ''True Fiction'' and his work on a wide variety of TV crime series, including '' Diagnosis: Murder'', ''A Nero Wolfe M ...

based on the novel by

Victor Gischler Victor Gischler is an American author of humorous crime fiction. Career Gischler's debut novel ''Gun Monkeys'' was nominated for the Edgar Award, and his novel ''Shotgun Opera'' was an Anthony Award finalist. His work has been translated into It ...

. In May 2013, Kitamura confirmed that he has written the script for '' Versus 2'', and that

would likely reprise his role from the original film. In September 2015, it was announced that Kitamura will direct the supernatural thriller ''Vessels'' for Ubiquity Studios, set to be filmed in early 2016.

Personal life

Kitamura speaks English fluently. His favorite ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

'' film is ''

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla is a 1974 Japanese Kaiju, ''kaiju'' film directed by Jun Fukuda, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and produced under their effects subsidiary Toho–Eizo, it is the 14th film of the Godzilla (franchise), ''Godzilla ...

'' (1974), and his favourite kaiju is

King Caesar is a god kaiju who first appeared in Toho's 1974 Godzilla film ''Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla''. In his first film appearance, King Caesar is portrayed as a guardian deity and the protector of an ancient Ryukyuan family. Awakened from a dormant s ...

. He has expressed admiration for fellow Japanese director

Shunji Iwai is a Japanese film director, video artist, writer and documentary maker. Life and career Iwai was born in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. He attended Yokohama National University, graduating in 1987. In 1988 he started out in the Japanese entertainment ...

, asserting that the film '' Swallowtail Butterfly'' is "the best Japanese movie ever made." He has stated that his "dream project" would be to direct an installment in the ''

Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic Action film, action film series and media franchise created by George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with ''Mad Max (film), Mad Max'', and was followed by thre ...

'' film franchise.

Filmography

Films

Video games

Notes

References

External links

Ryuhei Kitamura Official Site (available in Japanese and English)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitamura, Ryuhei 1969 births Horror film directors Japanese film directors Living people People from Osaka Prefecture