In 2009, Quentin Tarantino listed Battle Royale as his favorite film released since he began directing in 1992.[83] That same year, Moviefone included it in the top three of its "50 Best Movies of the Decade" list.[84] Jon Condit of Dread Central called it "one of the best movies [he's] ever seen."[85] Bloody Disgusting ranked the film fifteenth in its list of the "Top-20 Horror Film of the Decade", with the article calling the film "a go-for-broke extravaganza: fun, provocative, ultra-violent, and bound to arouse controversy (which it did) ... the film [is] more than just an empty provocation – it builds character through action, a method all good filmmakers should seek to emulate."[86] In 2010, Empire ranked Battle Royale #235 and #82 on their lists of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time" and "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" respectively.[87][88] Time magazine included the film in its list of Top 10 Ridiculously Violent Movies.[89] In 2012, The Independent included it in its "10 best sports movies ever made" list.[90] Complex magazine ranked it #47 in its list of The 50 Best Action Movies of All Time.[4]
Sequel
Kinji Fukasaku, who directed the first film, began work on a sequel, entitled Requiem, but died of prostate cancer on January 12, 2003, after shooting only one scene with Takeshi Kitano. His son Kenta Fukasaku directed the rest of the film, which was released on May 18, 2003.
Unlike the first film, the sequel is not adapted from a novel, but was based on an original screenplay written by Kenta Fukasaku. The plot revolves around the survivor Shuya Nanahara leading a terrorist rebellion, but was controversial for its provocative anti-American sentiments and criticised for being inferior to the original.[91]
Remake plans
In June 2006, Variety reported that New Line Cinema, with producers Neil Moritz and Roy Lee, intended to produce a new adaptation of Battle Royale.[92] Several Web sites echoed the news, including Ain't It Cool News, which claimed the remake would be "an extremely Hard R – serious-minded Americanisation of Battle Royale."[93] New Line tentatively set a release date of 2008.
The next month, The New York Times reported on an Internet backlash against the remake. Through the article, Lee assured fans of his respect for the original work, claiming, "This is the one I'm going to be the most careful with." He stated that, despite earlier concerns, the film would not be toned down to PG or PG-13, the characters would remain young teenagers, and that it would draw elements equally from the novel, the original film, and the manga. The reporter noted "the hubbub ... was at least slightly premature [as] New Line hasn't yet purchased the remake rights."[94]
Following the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007, Lee claimed that prospects for the remake had been "seriously shaken". While he remained willing to proceed, he stated, "we might be a little more sensitive to some of the issues." The reporting article noted that New Line still had not secured remake rights – its spokeswoman claimed "no news" when asked about progress on any deal.[95]
Maclean's pointed out that the 2008 novel The Hunger Games, and its subsequent 2012 film adaptation, have similar themes.[96] Although Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins maintains that she "had never heard of that book until [her] book was turned in", The New York Times reports that "the parallels are striking enough that Collins's work has been savaged on the blogosphere as a baldfaced ripoff" and that "there are enough possible sources for the plot line that the two authors might well have hit on the same basic setup independently."[97] The 2012 film adaptation has also faced similar criticisms for similarities to Battle Royale.[98][99]
In March 2012, Roy Lee reported that a remake of Battle Royale would no longer be possible due to the release of The Hunger Games, stating, "Audiences would see it as just a copy of Games – most of them wouldn't know that 'Battle Royale' came first. It's unfair, but that's reality." However, he stated that he might return to the film in ten years to "develop a "Battle Royale movie for the next generation."[99]
American TV series
During the summer of 2012, The CW had been in discussion with the Hollywood representatives about the possibility of turning Battle Royale into an American television show. According to a spokesperson, the talks were only preliminary, but if a deal could be reached, the network would acquire rights to Koushun Takami's underlying novel, then unpack and expand on it for an hour-long dramatic series. Joyce Jun, a Hollywood attorney representing U.S. rights to the title, stated that "there is no deal in place". A CW spokesman confirmed only there had been some discussion, but declined to comment further.[100]
