CINEMA-LIFE.NET TRANSLATION: Tom Hiddleston's first time in Japan

Tom Hiddleston’s first time in Japan, his impression of Japan “kind and friendly, and the food here is delicious”― Star-studded cast arrives for 『Kong: Skull Island』 Japan premiere!

The Japan premiere of 『Kong: Skull Island』 was held on March 15 (Sun) at Shinjuku’s Kabukicho Godzilla Road, and was attended by Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, and Samuel L. Jackson who came to Japan, along GACKT and Sasaki Nozomi from the Japanese dubbing cast.

The movie was released all over the U.S. on March 10, and will finally be released on March 25 in Japan. This time, the main protagonist of this movie, Tom Hiddleston, visits Japan for the first time, with Brie Larson coming to Japan a year after 『Room』, and Samuel L. Jackson who last came to Japan in 2012 for 『Avengers』. Japanese dubbing cast members, GACKT and Sasaki Nozomi, joined them at Kabukicho on the 120m-long, orange carpet named Godzilla Road where they interacted with the fans gathered there.

The orange carpet was laid out, stretching towards the building where TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku is located, where a Godzilla head can be seen. At the event, Fujioka Hiroshi, Dante Carver, and Onishi Lion appeared as guests, getting the fans gathered at the sidelines excited. Then, the cast who were visiting Japan, and the dubbing cast walked the carpet one after another, as they got showered in the continuous cheers from the fans. They also politely accepted requests for autographs and pictures, and appeared to enjoy interacting with the fans.

Following this, they moved to the stage for the stage greetings. Just as the main cast and the dubbing cast got on stage, a broadcast of the “breaking news” of 「Is King Kong going to appear」 began streaming. And subsequently, a giant Kong head appeared at the back of the stage. Tom appeared surprised at this, and Samuel himself took a photo with his phone.

Tom, whose visit to Japan was long-awaited by fans, said to the Japanese fans 「Thank you for the warm welcome」 and added 「Arigatou gozaimasu!」, greeting in Japanese. In addition, with regards to his impression of Japan, he said 「Kind and friendly, and the food here is delicious」, revealing that he had sushi and sashimi. Brie, whose last visit to Japan was a year ago, said with a smile 「Tokyo is my favourite city in the world」 and greeted 「I’m so excited to share this film with you」. And, Samuel then greeted in Japanese, 「Ohayou! (good morning)」.

GACKT, who met Tom for the first time, revealed that they were talking in the waiting room before the event, and praised him greatly, saying 「He’s a good man even up close. You rarely get the chance to meet such a great guy up close」. After that, GACKT asked Tom in English 「Do you have any plans to go somewhere, or is there anything you want to see in Tokyo tonight?」, to which Tom replied with a question, 「What do you recommend?」, and GACKT suggested 「What about going to Golden Gai?」. Tom sounded interested, saying 「That sounds fantastic!」 but the honest GACKT himself said 「I’ve never been there before」, bringing laughs.

Also, with regards to Brie, whose character Sasaki dubs for, Sasaki said excitedly, 「(Her character is) a strong willed woman, and anyone who sees her will feel that she’s a cool, and admirable woman. When I met her she’s so friendly, and I’ve become a big fan」, and when she said 「The filming must have been tough」, Brie revealed that 「The hardest part was the stamina. Just to be able to keep doing it. ‘cuz, we’re running and climbing for 10 hours a day」 and upon hearing that, Sasaki appeared shocked and commented 「That’s amazing and impressive」.

At the end, Tom closed off with a message 「It’s a huge honour to bring this film to Tokyo, and to Japan. Enjoy it」.

The movie is set on a mysterious island on the south pacific called Skull Island. The guardian of the island is King Kong, a never-before-seen creature that inhabits the island and appears before the expedition team. It has been confirmed that King King will go up against Godzilla in 2020. The expedition team, made up of a star-studdet cast that includes Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson, has to escape from the over 30-meters tall King Kong, that was created by the productions team of 『Pacific Rim』 and 『GODZILLA』.