Ryuhei Kitamura
Born	(1969-05-30)May 30, 1969 (age 56)[1] Osaka,Japan[1]
Occupation	Filmmaker
Years active	1997–present
‹ ThetemplateInfobox Chinese/Japanese is beingconsidered for deletion. ›
Japanese name
Kanji	北村龍平
Romanization	Kitamura Ryūhei

Ryuhei Kitamura (北村龍平,Kitamura Ryūhei; May 30, 1969) is a Japanese film director, producer, and screenwriter. Kitamura relocated toSydney,Australia at age 17 and attended a school for visual arts for two years. In 1997, Kitamura directed and produced the short filmDown to Hell, which received a positive response from students, teachers, and an award which motivated Kitamura to seriously pursue a film career. He went on to independently finance and direct his feature film debutVersus (2000). The film proved to be successful within the film festival circuit and opened doors for Kitamura to direct more high-profile films such asAlive (2002),Sky High (2003),Godzilla: Final Wars (2004),The Midnight Meat Train (2008),No One Lives (2012), the live-action adaptation ofLupin the 3rd (2014), and several other Japanese and Hollywood productions.

Ryuhei Kitamura was born inOsaka Prefecture, Japan.^[1] Kitamura spent more of his adolescent years at the cinema than school. At the age of 16, he chose to become a filmmaker since he figured he "loved watching movies." The following year, Kitamura dropped out of high school, directly telling his teacher and walking out during class, and moved toAustralia a week later. Kitamura chose Australia because most of his influences are Australian, such asGeorge Miller,Russel Mulcahy,Peter Weir, andINXS. Kitamura attended a school for visual arts in Sydney for two years, after he directly asked the principal to simply let him in, "he thought that I was a funny guy, so he let me in."^[2]

After graduating, he returned to Japan to establish Napalm Films, his independent production studio. HisfeaturettesDown to Hell andHeat after Dark were successful in film festivals, and he soon found his first mainstream success with thecult filmVersus.^[3] The film launched the career of starsTak Sakaguchi andHideo Sakaki, and brought Kitamura international recognition when it was released on DVD outside Japan in 2004.^[4]

In 2002, Kitamura directed the short filmThe Messenger: Requiem for the Dead as part of theJam Films project, as well asAlive. In 2003, he directed a feature film adaptation of themangaAzumi, andSky High, a prequel to the popular Japanesetelevision drama.^[5] He collaborated with directorYukihiko Tsutsumi in the Duel Project, in which the two challenged one another to produce the best dueling movie with minimal production time and budget, withAragami being Kitamura's contribution. Also in 2003, Kitamura served as producer for the filmBattlefield Baseball, the directorial debut ofVersus co-writerYūdai Yamaguchi. Kitamura directed 2004'sGodzilla: Final Wars,^[4] the 28th installment in the renownedkaiju franchise. The film was the first of Kitamura's projects to hold its premiere in Hollywood.^[6] In 2006, Kitmura directedLoveDeath, before relocating toLos Angeles, California.^[7]

In 2003, he directed the in-game cutscenes forMetal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, a remake of the iconicMetal Gear Solid for theGameCube. Unlike previous titles in the series,The Twin Snakes was developed bySilicon Knights and produced byKonami. The game featured similar mechanics toMetal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty due to having been made on the same engine. Kitamura's direction of the cutscenes was viewed as controversial, criticism leveled at itsMatrix-like action tone and unrealistic stunts performed by the characters. Regardless, it went on to receive positive reviews from video game review sites.^[8]

In 2008, Kitamura made his American filmmaking debut withMidnight Meat Train based onClive Barker's short horror story of the same name.^[9] The film (starringBradley Cooper,Vinnie Jones, andBrooke Shields) was distributed byLionsgate, and released directly to thesecondary market on August 1, 2008.^[10][11] Despite receiving positive reviews from critics,^[12] the film was a box office failure. Kitamura's next directorial venture did not come until 2012 withNo One Lives, starringLuke Evans andAdelaide Clemens. It was shown as part of the Midnight Madness portion of the2012 Toronto International Film Festival,^[13] and received a limited theatrical release on May 10, 2013.

While promotingNo One Lives, Kitamura announced that he was working on his "comeback" film in Japan, stating in an interview, "It’s a completely different role than what I’ve done before. It’s also not a bloody movie, not a horror movie. It’s a big action movie."^[14] In November, 2013, the project was revealed to beLupin III, a modern adaptation of the iconicmanga byMonkey Punch.^[15] The film was released in Japan on August 30, 2014.

Kitamura's 2017 thriller film,Downrange, was announced to premiere at Toronto International Film Festival in September 2017. The film follows a group of people on a road trip who are trapped on a country road by a sniper.^[16] In 2018, Kitamura directed a segment in the anthology horror filmNightmare Cinema.^[17]

Kitamura is set to direct theslasher filmBlack Friday 3D, based on a screenplay by Joe Knetter.^[18] He is also attached to directMarble City, a revenge film written by Tom Sjolund,^[19] as well asGun Monkeys, from a screenplay byLee Goldberg based on the novel byVictor Gischler.^{[citation needed]} In May 2013, Kitamura confirmed that he has written the script forVersus 2, and thatTak Sakaguchi would likely reprise his role from the original film.^[20] In September 2015, it was announced that Kitamura will direct the supernatural thrillerVessels for Ubiquity Studios, set to be filmed in early 2016.^[21]

Kitamura speaks English fluently. His favoriteGodzilla film isGodzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), and his favouritekaiju isKing Caesar. He has expressed admiration for fellow Japanese directorShunji Iwai, asserting that the filmSwallowtail Butterfly is "the best Japanese movie ever made."^[9] He has stated that his "dream project" would be to direct an installment in theMad Max film franchise.^[9]

• Ryuhei Kitamura Official Site (available in Japanese and English)
• Ryuhei Kitamura atIMDb

• 1969 births
• Japanese horror film directors
• Living people
• People from Osaka Prefecture

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