Back in 2018, Hirokazu Koreeda won the Palme d'Or with his film “Shoplifters' and the film world was excited to see what the Japanese auteur did next. Not one to rest on his laurels, Koreeda always is up for a challenge and he went on to make French and Korean features straight after, with his latest “Broker” winning Song Kang-ho the Best Actor at Cannes this year. Less than six months since the Korean production's debut at Cannes, news has broken that Koreeda's latest film “Monster” has already wrapped up shooting and is readying for a release in 2023.
Noting is known about the cast or the synopsis yet, but this will be Koreeda's first Japanese feature film since “Shoplifters”. Interestingly, this will be the first feature Koreeda directs that has not been written by himself. Instead, he has worked off a script by Yuji Sakamoto, known for writing works such as the feature film “We Made a Beautiful Bouquet” and tv dramas “Mother” and “Matrimonial Chaos”. It is produced by Genki Kawamura, who has helped finance a number of anime hits, such as Mamoru Hosada's “The Boy and the Beast,” “Mirai,” and “Belle,” and Makoto Shinkai's “Your Name”, “Weathering with You” and his latest “Suzume”, which is currently in Japanese theatres.
The teaser confirms a June 2nd, 2023 release, so a Cannes 2023 premiere could well be expected.