Behind the Scenes of the “Massive Flop” of the Movie Starring Daiki Shigeoka: Bad Moves—Excluding Sports Newspapers and Banning Questions and Interactions—Led to a Complete Backlash from the Media

Fans are announcing one after another that they’re “stepping down” as fans…

This isn’t something that can be brushed off with a simple “It’s all right”—

The movie *How to Create a Perfect Crime in 5 Seconds*, starring WEST.’s Daiki Shigeoka (34), is facing a crisis right after its release.The film, which opened in 277 theaters nationwide on September 11, had estimated opening-day box office receipts of 16 million yen and debuted at No. 10 on the national weekend attendance rankings. However, it had already fallen out of the rankings by the second weekend of its release.

As unease spreads among film industry insiders, some have quietly admitted , “We were prepared for this…”

“The film itself is a mystery about a brother and sister who use generative AI to cover up a crime committed by the sister. There have been positive reviews of the performances by Shigeoka and Nanoka Hara (23), so it’s not that the film itself has a bad reputation. That’s precisely why this result is such a shock,” said a film industry insider.

At some theaters, despite regular screenings, only a few seats were reserved, and in some cases, screenings were nearly “zero” in attendance. A trend even began where people took screenshots of the seat selection screen and posted them online as a “joke contest” about empty seats. Reports such as “It’s already been pulled from theaters in just its third week” have been coming in from across the country, and the harsh box office situation has become prime material for jokes.

One factor cited as the reason behind this “massive flop” is the relationship between Shigeoka and his fans.

On August 9, Shigeoka’s marriage was announced. It was also revealed—in an after-the-fact disclosure—that a child had already been born, spreading surprise and confusion among fans. A wave of fans began announcing they were “quitting as fans.”

“It is also said that mistrust arose within the group because he had not consulted with the other members in advance about his marriage or the birth of his child. On August 30, it was revealed that Ryusei Fujii (33) and Nozomu Kotaki (30 ) announced their departure from the group, and it was decided that the group would disband as of September 30. It was truly a sudden and dramatic turn of events,”

a sports newspaper reporter noted.

Amid a wave of harsh reactions toward Shigeoka on social media, his starring film was released.

Promotional Efforts Fell Flat

Shigeoka himself had been focusing his efforts on drawing audiences to the movie. He made energetic promotional efforts, appearing frequently on TV and radio and even handling up to six stage greetings a day. However, no matter how hard he worked off-screen, if audiences didn’t show up at the theaters, it wouldn’t translate into box office revenue.

And there was another miscalculation.

“Even the media turned their backs on us,” said the film industry insider mentioned earlier.

The production team had also put significant effort into promoting the film in Shigeoka’s hometown of Osaka.On August 21—Shigeoka’s first public appearance following his marriage announcement—an “event to pray for a blockbuster hit” was held at the Abeno Harukas Observatory in Osaka City. However, perhaps to avoid questions about his marriage, tight security measures were in place at the event, and it is said that major newspapers, including sports papers, were not invited.

On September 10, the day before the film’s release, at a pre-release event held in Tokyo, reporters broke protocol and called out to Shigeoka as he was stepping off the stage. When asked about the group’s future, Shigeoka “Discussions are underway. We’ll make an announcement as soon as a decision is made.” This remark became a hot topic, and as a result, sports newspapers were not invited to the stage greeting held in Osaka on September 12.

“Both at the event to pray for a blockbuster hit and at the stage greeting on the 12th, questions were strictly prohibited. There were no interviews or press conferences, and approaching him—whether as he took the stage or stepped down—was off-limits; media coverage was strictly restricted. As a result, even some of the very few media outlets that were granted permission to cover the event turned down the opportunity, saying, ‘If we can’t ask anything, then there’s no point’” (said another film industry insider).

The film’s publicist resorted to a bold move, saying, “In that case,” and sent official reports of the stage greeting to media outlets nationwide. However, it’s said that only a very small number of media outlets actually ran articles on it, and it was largely ignored. A sports newspaper entertainment reporter sighs.

“The content of the report—like the talk about ‘551 Horai’ pork buns—is just boring. There’s absolutely nothing we want to hear. Shigeoka never had strong viewership numbers (PV) to begin with, so publishing a report with no substance would just be a waste of effort—no one would read it. That’s probably why they decided not to run the story.”

If it doesn’t become a talking point, it doesn’t make the news. If it doesn’t make the news, it becomes even less of a talking point—

“He worked so hard on promotion, but it didn’t lead to results. Fans drifted away due to his marriage and the birth of his child, and on top of that, he didn’t give the media sufficient opportunities for coverage. It seems the price he paid for neglecting both his fans and the media has now caught up with him in the promotion of his movie,” said the sports newspaper reporter mentioned earlier.

Her marriage and the belated announcement of the birth of her first child. The announcement of two members’ departure immediately afterward. The end of the group’s activities. And then the release of the movie in which she starred—for Shigeoka, far too many events were crammed into just about a month and a half. The timing of the movie’s release coincided with the turmoil surrounding her personal life and the group, leaving her exposed to unexpected headwinds.

“No matter what he did, it backfired. As someone involved in the film industry, there’s nothing more frustrating than this,” said a film industry source mentioned earlier.

On September 21, during Silver Week, Shigeoka visited three theaters in Tokyo and appeared at a total of six stage greetings. At some theaters, he reportedly treated fans to a surprise “send-off” gesture. Despite his strenuous promotional efforts, the number of theaters screening the film continues to decline. A comeback is looking increasingly difficult, and the film’s path to success hangs by a thread.This time around, it seems a simple “Oh well” won’t cut it.