Transformers Bumblebee Movie: di Bonaventura, Knight & Steinfeld At Japanese Premiere on March 12th

Discussion in 'Transformers Movie Discussion' started by AzT, Feb 28, 2019.

  1. primalxconvoy

    primalxconvoy Banned

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    I don't. I hope most people in Japan have already watched it abroad/on the internet or will just veto it. If people in Japan start voting more with their wallets, films might actually get released on time.
     
  2. Raiju

    Raiju Navel Shocker Veteran

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    The other consideration is that Hasbro, TakaraTomy, and Paramount might simply see the smaller, more disappointing box office returns as a sign that the Transformers brand is weakening in Japan and most likely coorelate that with waning fan interest in the franchise.

    This scenario could have the undesired effect of fewer toys and less investment in other Transformers product lines outside of the Movieverse, even such as fewer production runs and higher prices for things like Masterpiece figures.

    Transformers in Japan is already a comparably small niche market and I don't think anyone here would want to see it shrink even more in the face of stiffer toy competition like Gundam. Just food for thought for those who actively want to see this movie fail for reasons outside of its own critical merits as a standalone film.
     
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  3. primalxconvoy

    primalxconvoy Banned

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    - https://www.quora.com/Why-does-it-take-so-long-for-Hollywood-movies-to-be-released-in-Japan

    There was a great article in "Metropolis" magazine, ages ago, about why films are so late, which included other reasons:

    - Releasing films in line with Japanese public holidays (which are different from the US, etc).

    - The monopoly of Japanese cinema companies.

    The latter was explained something like:

    - No foreign competition (government collision/protection of "Japan inc", or something).
    - Ticket prices kept high.
    - Companies deliberately restricted amount of cinemas to increase demand.
    - Less screens to show films, leading to conservative releases.
    - A desire to promote Japanese films over foreign ones.

    There was even a piece about how veteran translators (for subtitles, dubs, etc) don't even get to watch the films; instead they just get the audio tracks.

    Anyway, it's more to do with control of the market, and with the BB film not being a "major" film (with less budget), it wasn't promoted as much or given high priority.

    It's the monopolies in Japan (and "middleman" business culture) that is basically thought of as the "catch all" for most of Japan's economic and business woes. Government protection and collusion between rivals is perfectly normal (and in many cases, legal, I think), leading to high prices, control of the market and anti-consumer laws (hence the stuff penalties for piracy, the law making it illegal to rent videogames in Japan, etc).

    The thing is, although (due to similar reasons, IMO), new technology is often slowly implemented in Japan, cord-cutting is starting to happen over here, and I've noticed some local cinemas fall into disrepair (although that could also be due to a rival cinema and shipping centre opening nearby).