Questions Arise Within Fuji TV About the Decision to Turn ‘Run for Money’ into a Movie Amid Criticism of Its Screening Experience

The theater version of the game variety show ‘Run for Money: Tosochu (commonly known as Tosochu),’ which has been airing irregularly on the Fuji TV network and celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, ‘Run for Money: The Movie – Tokyo Mission,’ has been in theaters since July 19th, just as the summer vacation season began.

The film’s plot involves six former high school track teammates receiving an invitation email to participate in ‘Run for Money,’ which promises a total prize amount exceeding 100 million yen. After reuniting for the first time in a long while by participating, they find themselves caught up in a deadly game as ‘Run for Money’ spirals out of control, turning into a death game that throws them and the other contestants into chaos.

The six main cast members are played by popular boy group members among young women, including Takumi Kawanishi (25), Syoya Kimata (24), and Sukai Kinjo (24) from ‘JO1,’ and Sota Nakajima (24), Leiya Seguchi (28), and Taiki Sato (29) from ‘FANTASTICS from EXILE TRIBE.’ The film is directed by Masaki Nishiura (56), a former Fuji TV employee who directed the hit series ‘Code Blue: Doctor-Heli Emergency Lifesaving’ starring Tomohisa Yamashita (39), and whose 2018 theater version became a massive hit with box office revenue of 9.3 billion yen. It was expected that many fans of both ‘JO1’ and ‘FANTASTICS’ would flock to theaters.

“With a large-scale release in 348 theaters nationwide, the movie debuted at 5th place in the first week’s ‘Domestic Film Ranking’ (provided by Kōgyō Tsūshinsha). However, by the following week’s ranking, it had already dropped out of the top 10. Box office revenue has been sluggish, and by the fourth week of release, it has yet to reach 500 million yen. It seems the project was pushed through in the hope of generating revenue from the film business, but for Fuji’s upper management and those involved, it has completely missed the mark,” said a source in the film industry.

The major film information site ‘Eiga.com’ has received 111 reviews for the film as of August 19th, with the lowest rating of ★1 being the most common at 31%. Audience members who went to the theater left scathing reviews such as, “Sorry, but this is unbearable. What is this more than an hour-long punishment? I wanted to escape,” “Definitely the worst of 2024,” “Not only is it terrible as a movie, but it doesn’t even have the entertainment value of the TV show ‘Run for Money’,” and “I almost ran away during the screening.”

“Targeting idol fans for audience draw might have worked with former Johnny’s members or popular K-POP groups, but with the main cast being ‘JO1’ and ‘FANTASTICS’. When asked if they have that level of pulling power. The result is a half-hearted production that fails to attract both death game fans and variety show fans. There are comments like, ‘The kids enjoyed watching it,’ so if it had been marketed as ‘for kids,’ it would have at least made more sense,” said an entertainment writer.

‘Tosochu’ initially gained popularity 20 years ago when it first aired, thanks to its innovative concept. However, in recent years, despite airing extended New Year’s Eve specials with numerous guest stars in both 2022 and 2023, its average household ratings remained in the 3% range, suffering a crushing defeat against competing programs on other networks. It’s honestly questionable whether the content was popular enough to warrant a movie adaptation.

“The ‘Tosochu’ attraction at the ongoing ‘Odaiba Adventure King 2024’ event is thriving. You’d expect a synergistic effect from that popularity, but due to a lack of active promotional tie-ins, the movie theaters have ended up empty. Even within the network, there are voices questioning why a movie was made when there wasn’t much hope for success. Given the situation, it’s likely that ‘Tosochu’ won’t be airing on New Year’s Eve this year,” said a Fuji TV insider.

This fall, Fuji TV will consecutively release two spin-off movies from its most popular series in history, ‘Odoru Daisousasen,’ titled ‘Shinji Muroi: The Undefeated’ and ‘Shinji Muroi: The One Who Continues to Live.’ These films are expected to be the ‘revenge’ that ‘Tosochu’ couldn’t achieve.

 

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