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Live-Action Kingdom Franchise Gets 3rd Film in Summer 2023

TOHO announced during its 2023 lineup press conference on Tuesday that the live-action film franchise of Yasuhisa Hara's Kingdom manga will get a third film, with a temporary title Kingdom 3, in summer 2023.

Kento Yamazaki (pictured above, center), Ryō Yoshizawa (pictured above, right), Takao Osawa (pictured above left), and Kanna Hashimoto will all reprise their respective characters Shin (Xin), Ei Sei (Yin Zheng), Ōki, and Ka Ryō Ten (He Liao Diao), respectively from the two previous films. Nana Seino, Hiroshi Tamaki, and Kōichi Satō from the second film will also reprise their respective characters Kyо̄ Kai, Sho Hei Kun (Lord Changping), and Ryo Fui (Lu Buwei).

Shinsuke Satō (live-action Gantz, Death Note Light up the NEW world, Bleach) returns as director. Hara and Tsutomu Kuroiwa (One Piece Film Gold, live-action Black Butler, GANTZ:O) return to write the script.

The first film opened in Japan in April 2019 and sold 506,861 tickets to earn 690,219,500 yen (about US$6.17 million) in its first three days. The film eventually earned a cumulative total of 5.73 billion yen (about US$53.2 million). Funimation screened the film at Anime Expo in July 2019, and screened the film in theaters in the United States and Canada in August 2019.

The second film Kingdom II: Harukanaru Daichi e (To Distant Lands) opened in Japan on July 15. The film sold 527,000 tickets in its first two days, and earned 797 million yen (about US$5.75 million) to rank at #1 in its opening weekend. The film has earned 5.16 billion yen (about US$37.8 million), making it the highest-earning Japanese live-action film in Japan so far this year.

Hara's historical manga centers around the slave boy Xin and his dream of becoming a great general for the state of Qin. Xin helps Ying Zheng, the young Qin king who shares his desire to unify China, rise to power within the state. Xin does all he can to become a superior commander of an army capable of defeating the Seven Warring States.

The record-setting manga launched in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine in 2006.

The manga's first television anime adaptation premiered in 2012, and a second series premiered in 2013. Funimation streamed both series in North America and released both anime series on DVD in 2016. The third anime series premiered in April 2020. The show went on hiatus after four episodes due to COVID-19, but then resumed airing in April 2021. The anime restarted its airing from the first episode. Funimation streamed the anime as it aired in Japan.

The fourth series premiered on NHK General in April and aired for 13 episodes. Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired in Japan. The anime's fifth series will premiere in January 2024.

Images ©原泰久／集英社 © 2023映画「キングダム」製作委員会

Source: Cinema Today (石井百合子)