Shinichiro Ueda, director of the indie hit film “One Cut of the Dead,” lifted the lid on his next project. It is an untitled comedy.
Last month Ueda revealed that he was making his next film with Shochiku Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Japanese film studio Shochiku. Speaking Tuesday at the Meet the Creator event, at part of the TIFFCOM market, he updated the project’s status.
“The new film will be a comedy,” he told Variety. “I’m writing the script now, but I can’t say what the story is about yet,” he said. He plans to start shooting in the spring of next year, but has not set a date for a release. “Of course, I’m nervous about it,” he said. “But I just have to focus on making it interesting.”
An ultra-low-budget zombie comedy, “One Cut” received a rapturous reception at the Udine Far East Film Festival, in April. “Seeing a foreign audience going crazy for the film gave (me) confidence it would work internationally,” said Ueda. “I don’t want to consciously make (the new film) for the global audience; I want to go about it naturally.”
“One Cut” has played in Japanese theaters since June when it was launched on two screens. Later it expanded to 340 screens, and has has now passed the 2 million admissions landmark. It is also being played this week at the Tokyo International Film Festival’s Japan Now program.
The new film is the latest in Shochiku Broadcasting’s talent development initiative. Started in 2013, it is making films by up-and-coming directors using original scripts, casting through auditions and rehearsing the actors in workshops.