<figure id="attachment_433361" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-433361" style="width: 7668px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6d8afd47"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/07/13c46c38dc85d5066ed42b41278d205d.jpeg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-433361" class="wp-caption-text">At a movie event held in Tokyo on July 22. From right to left: Director Genki Kawamura, Nana Komatsu, Kazunari Ninomiya, Yamato Kawachi</figcaption></figure>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> First week exceeded &#8220;National Treasure</span></h3>
<p> During this summer vacation season, movie theaters across the country were abuzz with the animated film &#8220;Oni no Hane&#8221; Gekijoban: Infinity Castle Arc, Chapter 1: Ikuseza Revisited&#8221; which recorded 31.4 billion yen at the box office by the 7th of this month, and &#8220;Kokuhou,&#8221; which grossed 13.3 billion yen. And now, &#8220;Exit 8,&#8221; starring Kazuya Ninomiya (42) of &#8220;Arashi&#8221; fame, is attracting even more momentum and becoming a hot topic.</p>
<p> According to the &#8220;Domestic Movie Rankings&#8221; (Kogyo Tsushinsha), the film, which opened on August 29, drew 672,000 people and recorded box-office revenue of 954 million yen in the first three days. It surpassed &#8220;Kokuhou&#8221; in terms of box-office revenue in its first week, making it the number one live-action film released this year. In the same ranking from September 5 to 7, it recorded 466,000 visitors and 667 million yen in box-office revenue over the three-day weekend. The cumulative total of the film exceeded 1.48 million in attendance and 2 billion yen in box-office revenue.</p>
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<p> The film is a live-action adaptation of a game created by independent game creator KOTAKE CREATE, which was released in 2011 and caused a worldwide boom. The suspense/horror film depicts the main character, played by Ninomiya, as he searches for &#8220;Exit 8&#8221; in order to escape from the infinite corridor he suddenly wandered into after getting off the subway.</p>
<p> The director and screenwriter are the producers of numerous hit films such as &#8220;Kaibutsu (Monster)&#8221; and &#8220;Kimi no na wa. and &#8220;Kimi no na wa&#8221;, and won the Best Director Award at the 70th San Sebastian International Film Festival for his directorial debut &#8220;Hyakka&#8221;, released in 2010. Exit 8&#8243; was also entered in the Midnight Screening section of this year&#8217;s &#8220;78th Cannes International Film Festival&#8221; and reportedly received high acclaim overseas. &#8230;&#8230;</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> The story is a simple one, with only about five characters who must follow a given set of rules to find Exit 8. The story is simple, with only five characters, and there is only a small amount of dialogue, and English subtitles are available in some movie theaters for a limited time.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> However, I thought that the overly simple setting of the content would divide the evaluation into two halves. As expected, the response from the audience was both positive and negative. In addition, in reaction to the strong audience response, some media pointed out the inclusion of a tsunami scene in the film, and the film&#8217;s distributor hastened to include a warning in the film, stating, &#8220;There are scenes that may remind you of natural disasters, such as tsunamis.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" People who saw the film were divided on whether they approved or disapproved of it."></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">Will it stall &#8230;&#8230; in the future?</span></h3>
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<p> Incidentally, this film has received more than 16,000 reviews on Filmarks, a website for reviewing visual works (as of the afternoon of August 8, the same below), and the average rating is 3.5 with a perfect score of 5 Stars. 61% of the reviews are in the 3.1 to 4.0 rating range, the highest percentage. The reviews that are of interest are found at &#8230;&#8230;.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I enjoyed the film because it was a new cinematic experience for me!</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I wondered if it was worth spending 90 minutes on.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s so much to say &#8220;It&#8217;s boring! I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s so much to say &#8220;It&#8217;s boring!&#8221; but if there had been more narrative, I might not have been bored. &#8230;&#8230;</span></p>
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<p> The film was met with mixed reviews, with some saying that it was &#8220;boring! Incidentally, &#8220;National Treasure&#8221; received more than 15,000 reviews on the same site, with 67% of the reviews in the 4.1-5.0 rating range. Although the film is still attracting more customers in its second week of release, some are concerned that the film may stall in the future because it got off to too good a start.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> In &#8220;Hyakka,&#8221; director Genki Kawamura attempted a visual technique of connecting unconnected spaces and times in a single shot in order to express memories. The film did not attract many viewers in Japan, but it won awards overseas. This film also adopted that technique and used it more effectively, perhaps aiming for overseas popularity. Furthermore, the starring role of Ninomiya, who has always had a large fan base, and the popularity of the original game probably contributed to the film&#8217;s success in Japan.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> However, since the beginning of this month, only about 50% of the theaters in the Tokyo metropolitan area were filled, even at 5 p.m. on weekdays, and there was hardly any older audience members. On Saturdays and Sundays, the theater was almost full. &#8230;&#8230;&#8221; (reporter in charge of movies)</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" It&#39;s a very calculated production."></div>
<h3>They are very calculated.&#8221;</h3>
<p> What does the future hold? Film critic Yuichi Maeda asked.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> The box-office revenue in the second week was almost 70% of that in the first week, so I think the decline was small. The director, Genki Kawamura, is originally a producer, and I thought the film was very well calculated. There is a mechanism to sell to people all over the world and a mechanism to create buzz on SNS. It is also designed to win awards at film festivals. There are two general features.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The first is that the story is very simple and is a typical &#8220;one-line project. There are many Korean films like this, and the fact that it can be explained in a simple way is an element that helps it sell worldwide. At the same time, it is easy to get buzz on SNS and spread word of mouth.</span></p>
<p> Maeda continues, &#8220;Another point is that although the setting itself is simple, the film is made in such a way that it can be read in depth.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> I thought the loop of the underground passage symbolized the daily life of an office worker or a student. Just going about your daily life is the same as going on a loop in the same place. However, it is a metaphor for a deeper life that changes when we find something different in each day. I intentionally made it in such a way that people can think about it this way and that. Many people enjoy various interpretations on the Internet, especially people at film festivals such as Cannes.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In the future, films that are discussed on the Internet like this will have a surprisingly low decline. I think that films such as &#8220;Shin Godzilla&#8221; and &#8220;Shin Evangelion&#8221; by Hideaki Anno will do well because there are people who come late to see them and there are repeat viewers, so I think that they will stick around.</span></p>
<p> The fact that the film has divided opinions may mean that those who are into it will be hooked by it. Even if it is not to everyone&#8217;s taste like &#8220;National Treasure,&#8221; it is sure to be one of the movies to watch this year.</p>
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<figure id="attachment_433358" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-433358" style="width: 4959px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9aa4131e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/07/f1fb708e7cc4f5e3be8cd22915039a57.jpeg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-433358" class="wp-caption-text"> Nana Komatsu and Kazunari Ninomiya enlivened the audience with their talk at the event</figcaption></figure>


 Kazuhiko Nakamura

 The movie "Exit 8," which opened in theaters on August 29, became a topic of conversation after surpassing "Kokuhou" as the number one live-action movie released this year. However, the reaction of those who have seen the film has been mixed, and there are concerns that the film may stall in the future. ......

What is there to do with 90 minutes of screen time?&#8221; Although the initial response exceeded that of &#8220;National Treasure,&#8221; the future of the controversial film &#8220;Exit 8&#8221; is still in question.

What is there to do with 90 minutes of screen time?” Although the initial response exceeded that of “National Treasure,” the future of the controversial film “Exit 8” is still in question.

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