Audition SE announced!

It's gratifying to finally see the official announcement for the "prominent Japanese genre classic from a major director re-release" I've been hinting about since mid-April, and several times since then. It's Takashi Miike's AUDITION, of course, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year and is being re-released by a company called Shout! Factory, previously known primarily for music and documentary titles, but which should be putting out some really interesting genre stuff this year and next, since ex-BCI acquisitions guy Cliff MacMillan moved over there a few months ago. At least one other prominent Japanese title is in the works that we know of.

AUDITION comes to DVD and BluRay this October, and will feature the following supplements, all produced by yours truly, and all brand-new for this release.

• Feature-length audio commentary with Miike and screenwriter Daisuke Tengan, who is also scripting Miike's upcoming remake of the chanbara classic 13 ASSASSINS. Film writer and Eiga Hi-Ho contributor Masato Kobayashi moderates the Japanese-language (and English-subtitled) commentary track.

• Video introduction by Miike

• New video interview featurettes with the film's main cast
From Audition to Vampire Girl: Eihi Shiina
Tokyo—Hollywood: Ryo Ishibashi
Miike's Toy: Renji Ishibashi
The Man in the Bag Speaks: Ren Osugi

• Film trailer, plus liner notes by Agitator author and Midnight Eye founder Tom Mes

We're actually still working on the interview edits, but they should be pretty good. Shiina's and Renji's in particular are really great, with a ton of stories from the making of not only AUDITION, but lots of other films and from the genesis of the whole project.

Preorders should be available on Amazon soon!