Kurosawa's The Samurai and the Prisoner sells worldwide after $7.1m Japan run
Charades has closed a sweep of international sales on Kiyoshi Kurosawa's The Samurai and the Prisoner after a strong run in Japanese theatres.
The Paris-based company acts as sales agent, organising distribution rights territory by territory on behalf of the film's producers. The latest round of deals was detailed by Variety on 15 September 2026.
In Japan, where Shochiku is distributing the film, it has passed JPY1.1 billion ($7.1 million), with 800,000 admissions, according to Variety. In domestic, meaning the United States and Canada, rights holder Janus Films has overseen a gross of about $800,000.
The film is Kurosawa's adaptation of Honobu Yonezawa's Naoki Prize-winning novel. It is set during Japan's Sengoku period, an era of near-constant civil war. Motoki Masahiro plays Lord Araki Murashige, with Suda Masaki as strategist Kuroda Kanbei, in a story in which Murashige rises against the warlord Nobunaga Oda, according to the Festival de Cannes.
In Europe, Charades has sold the United Kingdom to Blue Finch Film and France to Arthouse. Italy goes to I Wonder Pictures, Spain to Adso Films and Portugal to Film4you. Turkey goes to Mars Films, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to Cinemart, and the Baltics and CIS states to Paradise MGN, while MCF Megacom Film takes the former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.
Further afield, Palace Entertainment holds Australia and New Zealand. Studio DHL has taken South Korea, Sky Digi Entertainment has taken Taiwan, Singapore Film Society has taken Singapore and Falcon has taken Indonesia. Airline rights went to Bofrato.
The film, under its original title Kokurojo, had its world premiere in the Cannes Premiere section, according to Variety. Janus Films had picked up US rights from Charades before that launch. It runs 147 minutes.
For audiences outside Japan, this means a slow rollout is now in place. Local distributors will set their own dates and campaigns from here.
