After Controversy, Fukuyama Smiles in Public — Fuji TV Pins Hopes on His Lead Movie

“Mr. Fukuyama, good luckーー!!”

That familiar smile radiated the calm confidence of a top actor.

On August 26, the completed preview screening for the film Black Showman was held at TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills. Starring Fukuyama Masaharu (56), he arrived in a sleek black suit matching the film’s title. He gracefully walked the red carpet alongside Arimura Kasumi (32), who wore a striking pure white dress.

“The movie is based on a novel by Keigo Higashino, whose series has sold over a million copies. Fukuyama plays a top-tier magician who tackles a complex murder mystery. Ahead of the film’s September 12 release, the event included not only the two leads but also key cast members such as Narita Ryo (31), Ikuta Erika (28), and Kimura Subaru (35), making it a star-studded occasion,” said an entertainment writer.

Outside TOHO Cinemas Roppongi, around 50 fans who couldn’t get inside had gathered. As cheers of “Fukuyama-san! Good luckーー!!” rang out, Fukuyama beamed at his fans and waved.

“Fukuyama had just been in the news on August 18 via Josei Seven Plus regarding an inappropriate meeting with a female Fuji TV announcer. Between 2005 and around 2019, Fukuyama reportedly attended gatherings hosted by former Fuji executive Ota Ryo (66), where he made repeated sexual jokes in front of female announcers, in what amounted to sexual harassment.

This was also mentioned in a third-party investigation report related to Masahiro Nakai’s sexual misconduct issues. The report stated, for example, that many attendees noted that the conversation included sexual jokes and content, and some expressed discomfort, indicating that some female announcers attended unwillingly. Fukuyama, who spoke to reporters for 70 minutes, apologized regarding these reports,” a showbiz insider said.

Fuji Faces Greater-Than-Expected Losses

The completed preview screening marked Fukuyama’s first public appearance since the reports, yet he responded to fans’ cheers with his usual calm and confident smile.

Initially, there had been speculation that the film’s release might be postponed following the reports. Fuji TV was in charge of production and, amid Nakai’s controversy, the network was pushing for stricter compliance measures. Despite this, Fuji decided to proceed with the scheduled release and held the event as planned. Behind this decision, however, lay the network’s severe financial situation.

“Fuji has high expectations for this film. Fukuyama-starring adaptations of Keigo Higashino’s works have a proven track record—most notably the Galileo series, which were major box office hits. The Devotion of Suspect X alone earned around 5 billion yen. Moreover, the director of this film is the same person who led the acclaimed Confidence Man movie series. Simply postponing or canceling the release because of past controversies is not an option.

Kenji Shimizu (64), Fuji’s president with an anime background, emphasizes a content-first policy. In July, a company-wide reorganization merged film and drama departments into a new section, and this film is expected to spearhead that initiative,” said a mid-level Fuji employee.

At the end of July, Fuji Media Holdings announced a major downward revision to its consolidated operating profits, largely due to Fuji TV’s declining performance.

“Fuji’s sales fell 54% to approximately 25 billion yen. Operating profit plunged from a 1.2 billion yen surplus in the previous year to a 21.7 billion yen deficit. The main cause was decreased advertising revenue. While major advertisers such as Toyota and Meiji returned in late July, full recovery is far from achieved; ad revenue remains down 83% at roughly 6 billion yen.

Since last year, the company has cut program production costs by 9% in response, but the network still faces a massive deficit. Given these harsh financial conditions, expectations are high for this film, which has potential to become a series,” said an advertising agency insider.

Will this be Fukuyama’s chance to redeem his reputation.