Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with some interesting info from the BATTLE ROYALE universe. I have yet to watch BATTLE ROYALE 2 due to my unending love for the first film... I've heard such mixed and negative things about the film that I'm a little weary of tainting the original with a viewing of a shitty sequel... One of these days I'll bite the bullet and watch it. Hopefully the added 20 minutes will make the difference. Also really interesting stuff about a mini-series based on the original book that inspired the original BATTLE ROYALE. Take a look!

Thought you might find this cool:

Last month in Tokyo, Kenta Fukasaku screened an extended version of Battle Royale II, which adds about 20 minutes worth of footage originally cut from the film. There's some added character development (which the original cut was in dire need of) as well as extended battle scenes, and reportedly those in attendance liked the improvements (though I guess the people who would put themselves through BRII a second time must've liked the original cut in the first place). Kenta Fukasaku is trying to get a theatrical release for this Special Version (re-titled "Battle Royale II: Revenge" instead of "Requiem"); a direct-to-video release was originally scheduled for September, but has since been postponed, which may mean Fukasaku is making headway in his efforts.

By the way, the original cut of BRII has just been released in region-free form in Korea, so Americans can import this version and watch their government get vilified clumsily on their Region 1 DVD payers.

Oh, and the big news: the original movie and novel is currently being remade in this hemisphere as "Sangre Fría" ("Cold Blood"), a 13-part TV miniseries scheduled to air next month on the Telefe network in Argentina. The official synopsis of the series makes it sound like it's a traditional slasher, but I think it's because the producers are making an attempt to make the actual premise a surprise. The series transplants the BR program from an island in Japan to the mountains of Patagonia, and instead of ninth graders, the participants are students at a prestigious university (so the cast is obviously much older, consisting of Argentinian soap regulars and some faces from Argentinian indie cinema)...so I don't anticipate anything being recognizable from the original except for the basic premise. I don't know if and when I'll be able to see this series when it airs, but many people in the States with C-band satellite dishes and those with DirecTV's Spanish channel lineup will be able to tune into the Telefe network and watch it.

For more information on Sangre Fría, check out THIS SITE. And as always, for the latest goings-on in the Battle Royale universe, please visit http://www.battleroyalefilm.net.