Bad Karma Awaits Tokyo in the Bizarre New Kaiju Flick The Great Buddha Arrival
Buddha is known for helping you arrive at enlightenment, but the only enlightenment The Great Buddha Arrival may be known for is the flaming of Tokyo as he cuts a path of destruction.
Japanese cinema is no stranger to stone statues coming to life and going on rampages. The classic Daimajin movies of the Sixties featured a giant stone samurai statue brought to life to punish corrupt shoguns during the medieval era. But a giant stone Buddha statue stomping Tokyo? This might be the strangest one yet – even for Japan. That’s saying something.
That’s the idea behind filmmaker Hiroto Yokohama’s forthcoming Japanese kaiju flick Daibutsu Kaikoju, aka The Great Buddha Arrival, in which a super-sized statue of The Great Buddha springs to life and stomps about Tokyo.
It might hard to believe, but Daibutsu Kaikoku is actually a remake of a 1934 film of the same name about a giant statue of The Great Buddha coming to life and wreaking havoc as it goes sightseeing in Japan before ascending to the heavens. Only a few promotional images exist of it as the film was lost forever during World War II.
The Great Buddha of the new film will be brought to life via 3D CG modeling based off a sculpture design created by renowned artist Keisuke Yoneyama, whom Guillermo del Toro is known to be a big fan of. Godzilla: Final Wars actors Yoshihiko Otsuki and Junichiro Nirasawa are set to star along with Kazuma Yoneyama and Japanese rapper Yuma.
The remake is being produced by the production company 3Y Film and partially via crowdfunding through May 31st (here’s how you can donate) with filming set to commence in August leading to The Great Buddha Arrival arriving in theaters in December. That sounds like a fast turnaround. Buddha must truly be divine.
Above you’ll find a teaser promo that takes teaser promos to a whole new level as it shows you absolutely nothing besides the side of a mountain. You’ll also see oodles of Daibutsu Kaikoku production art to give you a sense of the big buddha kaiju karma to come.
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