K2 Pictures Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, Representative Director and CEO: Muneyuki Kii) hosted a press conference at the JW Marriott Cannes today to announce the company’s Film Fund I results and unveil its extensive new film lineup. Approximately 80 media and industry guests from 15 countries and regions attended the event. K2 Pictures CEO Muneyuki Kii took the stage to discuss the company’s new corporate slogan: “Attack.”, based on the concept of choosing an uncharted path, even if it is fraught with difficulties or detours. Kii expressed the company’s determination to challenge existing values and boundaries and deliver new cinematic experiences that will astonish the world.
Kii announced the K2 Pictures upcoming lineup, and previewed projects currently in development.
The producers overseeing K2 Pictures’ productions were introduced on stage, and director Koto Nagata, who had rushed to the venue, made a surprise appearance to comment on The Nuke Crab, a film announced at the conference that will be planned, produced, and co-written by Shunji Iwai and produced by K2 Pictures.
Director Nagata commented: “When I first read the original novel, I was deeply shocked and, to be honest, frightened. After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear Power Plant accident, an enormous amount of money moved through the decontamination business, exposing human greed and desire in a very vivid way. Because of this, I initially felt that this story was far too difficult for me to confront.
However, while making my previous film, BAKA’s Identity, I kept thinking about the loneliness and love hidden behind human desire. Through that experience, I came to feel that I wanted to explore human desire even more deeply through this film and this new project. I hope to depict the profoundly human drama that exists behind social issues.
Please continue to follow this project closely. Thank you very much for being here today.”
■Japan’s Pride: Kabuki Actor Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII x Auteur Takashi Miike – World Premiere of the Trailer for the Documentary SHUMEI- The Living Legacy of Kabuki
The highlight of the press conference was the world premiere of the teaser trailer for the documentary SHUMEI- The Living Legacy of Kabuki. Takashi Miike turns his camera on the highly personal yet public moment when an actor inherits a stage name in Kabuki, Japan’s traditional performing art. Directing his first documentary film, Miike portrays the conflict between inheritance and individuality through the figure of Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII. The film captures the name succession ceremony—the most significant milestone for the prestigious Ichikawa family—and records the behind-the-scenes preparations for Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII Hakuen’s historic name-inheritance debut performance. Comments from Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII and director Takashi Miike were also released at the press conference.
The film is scheduled for release in September 2026.
Comments about SHUMEI – The Living Legacy of Kabuki (Director: Takashi Miike / Starring: Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII)
▼ Full comments from cast and staff
https://k2pic.com/en/film/shumei/#comment-section
Official Website https://k2pic.com/en/film/shumei/
[Project Announcements / Directors’ Comments]
● Theatrical Animation Gigant
A theatrical animated film based on the popular manga Gigant by Hiroya Oku, the original creator of Gantz, this sci-fi actioner features a sexy heroine, Papiko—a porn actress who becomes gigantic due to a certain incident—as she fights against mysterious monsters to protect her beloved boyfriend. This marks K2 Pictures’ first animated feature project.
● Director Koto Nagata’s Film The Nuke Crab (tentative title)
Director Koto Nagata’s last film, Baka’s Identity, was selected for the competition section at last year’s Busan International Film Festival—where lead actors Takumi Kitamura, Yuta Hayashi, and Go Ayano achieved the remarkable feat of winning the Best Actor Award together—and also swept four categories (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best New Actor) at the prestigious 35th Japan Film Critics Awards. Set in Fukushima after the Great East Japan Earthquake, her new The Nuke Crab is a social noir depicting the divisions faced by local residents, including radiation contamination from the nuclear accident, compensation issues, the dark side of the decontamination business, and the struggles of the bereaved families of disaster victims. The screenplay is co-written by the original author, Riichi Akamatsu, and film director and screenwriter Shunji Iwai. Iwai also serves as producer.
▼Comments about The Nuke Crab (tentative title) from Director Koto Nagata and Screenwriter/Producer Shunji Iwai
Director Koto Nagata:
Mr. Kii is a reliable person who, while a bit of a rascal, possesses a delicate and keen sensibility. In today’s Japan, is there any other producer who would take on a project like this involving nuclear power? I’m not exaggerating when I say that this project would not have been possible without Mr. Kii. And this time, I feel both grateful and a great sense of responsibility for this serendipitous opportunity to have my mentor, Shunji Iwai, write the screenplay. I sincerely wish for the success of K2 Pictures’ new funding model, which is set to revolutionize the Japanese film industry, and I look forward to seeing a new future unfold for Japanese cinema as a result.
Concept, Producer, and Screenplay Writer Shunji Iwai:
I first learned about the writer Riichi Akamatsu through a TV program. He subsequently appeared on one of my favorite YouTube channels, and I became interested in his life story. After a dramatic shift from running a company, he worked as a decontamination worker following the Fukushima nuclear disaster. He won the Oyabu Haruhiko Award at the age of 62. At the time, he was homeless and wrote his manuscripts on borrowed computers at internet cafes. Wondering what kind of novels such a writer might write, the first book I picked up was The Nuke Crab. Based on his own real-life experiences as a decontamination worker, the story is truly shocking. When I told Koto Nagata about it, she didn’t react for a while, but when we met again after a long time, she said, “I want to do this project!” It’s by no means light source material. It seems it took her quite some time to internalize this work in her own way. Making a film set in Fukushima, the site of the nuclear accident is a meaningful project for me as well, since I’m from the Tohoku region myself. At the same time, I feel that collaborating with Riichi Akamatsu, a truly one-of-a-kind writer, is also significant.
● Director Takuya Kato’s Film NAP (tentative title)
A rising star in the theater world, active globally with performances in London and Taipei, Kato is a cutting-edge creator who produces stylish works imbued with a sense of the times. The protagonist of his film NAP suffers from social eating phobia and cannot eat in public, and one day develops a sleep allergy. As reality and fiction intertwine, what will a couple do when they can no longer share the three basic human needs? This is an experimental film that questions the norms people unconsciously accept—such as what it means to be a couple. This is an international co-production between Japan, France, and Iceland.
▼Comments from Director Takuya Kato
In this film, we portray as a romantic story the experience of someone’s throat closing up when they’re with someone else. Eating and sleeping are acts of sharing with another person. Through the sleepless nights and the sun that never sets during the journey of Nagama, the protagonist—who cannot do these things—I want to explore what it truly means to share.
● Director Shinzo Katayama: Mexican Horror
Shinzo Katayama—who served as an assistant director to Bong Joon-ho and helmed the films Siblings of the
Cape and Missing, as well as the streaming series Gannibal and Human Vapor—directs this Mexico × Japanese horror project. Currently in development in partnership with Miércoles Entertainment (U.S.) and The Lift (Mexico).
● Director Keishi Otomo’s Conde Koma (tentative title)
This film by director Keishi Otomo, known for the Rurouni Kenshin series and Netflix’s 10DANCE, is set on the eve of World War I. The story follows Mitsuyo Maeda (“Conde Koma”), a man who traveled the world spreading Japanese jujutsu, ultimately sparking a movement that led to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and modern combat sports like the UFC’s MMA. This epic action blockbuster delves into the grand history of Jiu-Jitsu, which transcended borders, and the mystery surrounding this man. A co-production between Japan, Brazil, and the United States is planned.
▼Comments from Director Keishi Otomo:
One day, I received a message from Mr. Kii. He told me that he wanted to bring to life a project I had mentioned when we were out drinking, through his newly established company, K2 Pictures. It was a project I’d been thinking about for ten years—one that, no matter where or to whom I spoke about it, was treated as if I were a delusional megalomaniac (laughs) within the Japanese film industry. We discussed various things, but Mr. Kii’s single remark, “This is definitely going to be interesting,” said it all. Despite the risks and difficulties that will surely stand in our way, we will tackle—with pure, unbridled passion—projects that we find interesting, and especially those with high hurdles. It seems that is Kii-san’s, and K2 Pictures’s, fighting style. Doing what others won’t do, taking on what others can’t touch, shaking up Japanese cinema to make it exciting. Resonating with that spirit and challenge, we move toward the future. As we run together on this battlefield of cinema, I want to break down the walls of impossibility one by one. I look forward to working with you.
● Director No Deok’s Film My Teacher
Currently in development as a collaboration between Director No Deok—who wrote and directed the 2013 Shanghai International Film Festival Best Asian Newcomer Award-winning film Very Ordinary Couple (a Japan-South Korea co-production) and directed the Netflix series Glitch—and screenwriter Junya Ikegami, known for The Blood of Wolves and the Netflix series The Queen of Villains.
▼Comments from Director No Deok:
We are currently developing a project based on a subject I have long wanted to explore through film. I am deeply grateful to K2 Pictures for offering me the opportunity to re-examine this story from a new perspective, alongside Japanese creators. Although it is still in the development stage, I myself have high expectations for what kind of film this collaboration will ultimately become.
● Director Ayako Fujitani’s film Hold (tentative title)
This is the feature directorial debut of Ayako Fujitani, who has starred in films such as Hideaki Anno’s Shiki-Jitsu and Michel Gondry’s Tokyo!, while also working as a novelist and screenwriter, co-writing scripts with directors Park Chan-wook and Dave Boyle. Set in modern-day Kyoto, this romantic drama follows two strangers—a Japanese woman and a foreign woman—who are bound by a fateful connection, causing their respective lives to begin to shift.
▼Comments from Director Ayako Fujitani:
I first wrote this script in 2015. It was a love story between a mother and her child, and across cultures. Over the following ten years, I became a mother of two myself. Just when I thought I had come to terms with the darkness I knew within myself, a pitch-black darkness unexpectedly emerged, as if oozing from my heart. Through these various partings, new encounters, and reunions, I’ve finally reached this point. I’m able to direct this script, which I’ve rewritten through the filter of all those experiences, thanks to K2 Pictures and producer Harue Miyake, who believe in my vision. But this is just the beginning. It starts now. I hope you’ll look forward to seeing what we create.
● Director Milena Kaneko’s Film UFO Club
Selected for this year’s Udine Far East Film Festival’s Project Market and garnering international attention, this film marks the feature-length debut of director Milena Kaneko, who previously directed a short film for Nike conceived by designer Hiroshi Fujiwara. It is a coming-of-age sci-fi film in which a girl struggling with
loneliness born of a lack of understanding meets others through her search for UFOs and expands her world. Through her encounter with Nakajima, a boy who claims to be an alien, the protagonist, Hina, begins to experience the emotions of others and the small beauties of life that she had never noticed before.
● Directed by Ken Ninomiya: Osamu Tezuka 100th Anniversary Project The Book of Human Insects
The Book of Human Insects is launching as part of the Osamu Tezuka 100th Anniversary Project. Among the works left behind by Osamu Tezuka—the man who created Japan’s world-renowned manga culture and is known as the God of Manga—The Book of Human Insects stands out as one of his most avant-garde and prescient works. This film adapts it into a dark musical with a Japanese origin but global ambitions. In February 2026, a public pitch was held at Spotlight on Japan within the EFM market at the Berlin International Film Festival, marking the project’s official global launch. The film is directed by Ken Ninomiya, who has garnered international acclaim for works such as Chiwawa and The Midnight Maiden War. Osamu Tezuka’s forbidden masterpiece will be reintroduced to the world through an overwhelming musical and visual experience.
It has been two years since K2 Pictures announced the formation in 2024 of its film production fund. K2 Pictures will continue to promote the creation of high-quality works for both domestic and international audiences through strong collaborations with creators.
[Previously Announced Films]
・Mag Mag, Director: Yuriyan Retriever / Japan Release: February 6, 2026
Official Website https://k2pic.com/en/film/mmo/
・Look Back, Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda / Release: 2026
Official Website https://k2pic.com/en/film/lb/
・Trophy, Director: Myung-ah Son / Release: July 10, 2026
Official Website https://k2pic.com/en/film/trophy/
・Children Untold, Director: Miwa Nishikawa / Release: October 16, 2026
Official Website https://k2pic.com/en/film/wsk/
・Between Two Lovers, Director: Nanako Hirose / Release: November 27, 2026
Official Website https://k2pic.com/en/film/konogo/
・Border, Director: Kazuyuki Izutsu / Release: 2027
Official Website https://k2pic.com/en/film/border/