{"id":34162,"date":"2026-04-22T02:04:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T06:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=34162"},"modified":"2026-04-22T02:09:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T06:09:40","slug":"exit-8-exclusive-interview-with-co-writer-director-producer-genki-kawamura","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=34162","title":{"rendered":"\u201dExit 8″ : Exclusive Interview with Co-Writer\/Director\/Producer Genki Kawamura"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a9<\/b>Courtesy of Neon\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Exit 8<\/strong> : A man trapped in a endless sterile subway passageway sets out to find Exit 8. The rules of his quest are simple: do not overlook anything out of the ordinary. If you discover an anomaly, turn back immediately. If you don\u2019t, carry on. Then leave from Exit 8. But even a single oversight will send him back to the beginning. Will he ever reach his goal and escape this infinite corridor?<\/div>\n
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Director<\/strong> : Genki Kawamura<\/div>\n
Producer<\/strong> : Taichi Ito<\/div>\n
Screenwriter<\/strong> : Genki Kawamura, Hirase Kentaro<\/div>\n
Distributor<\/strong> : Neon<\/div>\n
Production Co<\/strong> : AOI Pro, Toho, Story<\/div>\n
Rating<\/strong> : PG-13 (Some Bloody Images and Terror)<\/div>\n
Genre<\/strong> : Mystery & Thriller, Horror<\/div>\n
Original Language<\/strong> : Japanese<\/div>\n
Release Date (Theaters)<\/strong> :Apr 10, 2026, Wide<\/div>\n
Release Date (Streaming)<\/strong> : Apr 28, 2026<\/div>\n
Runtime<\/strong> : 1h 35m<\/div>\n
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\"Exit<\/div>\n
\u00a9<\/b>Courtesy of Neon\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n
Exclusive Interview with Co-Writer\/Director\/Producer Genki Kawamura<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Q: Mr. Kawamura, as a film producer, you\u2019ve brought to the screen animated films such as \u201cYour Name\u201d, \u201cSuzume*, as well as live-action films like \u201cConfession\u201d, \u201cVillain\u201d, and \u201cMonster\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span>As a novelist, you\u2019ve also written \u201cIf Cats Disappeared from the World\u201d and \u201cApril Come She Will\u201d. Could you tell us what inspired you to adapt the video game \u201cExit 8\u201d, which you\u2019re turning into a film? I hear Dante\u2019s Divine Comedy also influenced you to some extent…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genki Kawamura: That\u2019s right. I played it myself right after it came out and thought the design was incredibly interesting. At the same time, I watched a ton of gameplay videos on YouTube featuring all kinds of people playing it. That\u2019s when I realized there were as many stories as there were players.<\/p>\n

Even though it\u2019s such a simple game, it really brings out people\u2019s true nature\u2014so it felt to me like a space akin to Purgatory in Dante\u2019s Divine Comedy.<\/p>\n

The idea that humans, trapped in this looping purgatory, confront the sins within their own hearts through these anomalies\u2014that outer shell of the story began to take shape, and I thought, \u201cMaybe I could turn this into a movie.\u201d That was the starting point.<\/p>\n

Q: I haven\u2019t played the game myself, so I\u2019m not familiar with the gameplay, but I think the premise itself is very simple: you don\u2019t miss the anomaly and head out through Exit 8. Could you tell me a little about how you thought you could make it more interesting by expanding on that premise with your own ideas, and how you worked with screenwriter Kentaro Hirase to develop those ideas?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genki Kawamura: That\u2019s right. The main guiding principle wasn\u2019t so much about turning a video game into a movie, but rather about creating a new cinematic experience where the line between film and games is blurred. It all started with a conversation I had with Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo ten years ago for a book I published called \u201cRikei.\u201d At the time, I asked him, \u201cWhat makes a good game?\u201d He replied that a good game is one that\u2019s fun for the person playing it, but also fun to watch from the sidelines.<\/p>\n

Those words were like a prophecy of today\u2019s game streaming culture. After all, the way people play games today has changed\u2014not only for the players themselves, but also with the emergence of the profession of game streamer and the culture of watching on YouTube. I thought that if I turned the very phenomena happening in today\u2019s gaming world into a film\u2014sometimes experiencing the movie subjectively as a player, sometimes as a streamer, and sometimes watching it as if I were watching a streamer play the game\u2014and took on that challenge, it might just become a unique film worthy of premiering at the Cannes Film Festival.<\/p>\n<\/ins>\n

Q : My personal impression of this film was that it reminded me of playing \u201cDragon Quest\u201d back in the day\u2014specifically, the feeling of watching the NPCs gain their own personalities as they recruit allies and battle enemies. I felt that giving the audience the sense of actually playing that game was incredibly important in this film. Was that something you consciously intended, and were there specific directorial choices made with that in mind?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genki Kawamura: That\u2019s right. We were constantly fine-tuning the camera work and angles. For example, in streaming, it\u2019s a common experience for the audience to notice something unusual before the player does. We incorporated that kind of thing, or conversely, we had the player notice it first while the audience remains in the dark, or having the audience watch while trying to guess what the player is seeing\u2014since I wanted people to experience it as if they were in a movie theater, I made sure to incorporate elements like waiting time and time for speculation\u2014things that people would just swipe past on a smartphone\u2014quite centrally into the direction.<\/p>\n

\"Exit\u00a9Courtesy of Neon<\/p>\n

Q: In the film, there are elements\u2014such as the people around the protagonist failing to stop the young man yelling at woman whose baby is crying, or the protagonist being unable to make a decision because the woman he\u2019s about to break up with is pregnant\u2014that reflect a sense of guilt, or perhaps more accurately, a sense of remorse, when something goes wrong. I feel that in this regard, the film captures aspects that aren\u2019t present in the game. What specific considerations did you keep in mind when incorporating these elements into the film?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genki Kawamura: I take the Tokyo subway to work every day, and whenever I\u2019m on the train\u2014I\u2019m in New York right now, and I think it\u2019s the same there\u2014I notice there are so many people, but everyone seems to be staring at their smartphones, completely oblivious to their surroundings. As a result, small acts of violence happen on the train, but people mostly look the other way\u2014they don\u2019t want to get involved.<\/p>\n

And while their smartphones are filled with images of war, violence, and slander, they just scroll through them and pretend not to see. I don\u2019t think there are actually that many people who kill others or steal things, but I got the feeling there are a lot of people who turn a blind eye to the turmoil in the world.<\/p>\n

Q: Japanese people, in particular, tend to be like that, don\u2019t they? I think there are a lot of things they just can\u2019t bring themselves to say.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genki Kawamura: I was wondering if we could draw a parallel between the rules of the game and the choices we make in our daily lives\u2014specifically, whether, when confronted with a sense of guilt\u2014the kind that comes from turning a blind eye to something\u2014in the form of an anomaly in that white corridor, we would simply keep moving forward without noticing it, or whether we would be able to make the decision to turn back.<\/p>\n

\"Exit\u00a9<\/b>Courtesy of Neon\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 <\/span>What I found interesting right from the start was that the character played by Kazunari Ninomiya is a nameless, lost man, and the woman played by Nana Komatsu is simply referred to as \u201ca woman\u201d\u2014elements in the film where we don\u2019t really get a glimpse of their backgrounds. I thought it was fascinating that even these details were left to the audience\u2019s imagination. Was there a deliberate choice to exclude such details in order to create a sense of immersion for the audience, almost like a video game?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genki Kawamura: That\u2019s right. As you mentioned, none of the characters in this game have names. In gaming terms, they\u2019re Non-Playable Characters, or NPCs\u2014in Japan, we sometimes call them \u201cmobs\u201d\u2014and that\u2019s exactly how they were treated. When I\u2019m riding the subway in Tokyo, I\u2019m an NPC player, and I\u2019m the protagonist, right? I\u2019m living in this world thinking I\u2019m the protagonist, but from the perspective of the passengers around me, I\u2019m just an NPC player.<\/p>\n

In other words, even though we\u2019re all living as \u201cmobs\u201d or NPCs, each of us has our own life and our own story. So I wanted to express that sense of how our perspective shifts when we\u2019re placed in that game-like space. And while I actually wrote a lot about explaining each character\u2019s background using flashbacks in the novel version of \u201cExit 8\u201d, But for the movie, I thought it might be better to focus on letting the audience imagine all sorts of things\u2014just imagining what\u2019s happening within the confines of the passageway\u2014rather than delving too deeply into those backstories.<\/p>\n<\/ins>\n

Q: Given that the character had absolutely no backstory, why did you choose Kazunari Ninomiya to play the lead, and how did you direct him without that backstory?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genki Kawamura: I told Ninomiya-kun that I wanted him to embody \u201csociety\u201d itself. In other words, rather than a specific person, it\u2019s more about the mood of the times we live in. It\u2019s that feeling of not wanting to deal with troublesome things, or turning a blind eye to them\u2014ultimately, putting yourself first, prioritizing your own life over family or the responsibilities of being a parent. I wanted him to carry that weight.<\/p>\n

Normally, since I\u2019ve written a lot about the character\u2019s background in my novels, I could have had him read those. But I deliberately chose not to give him the novels. Instead, as he struggled to survive, I gradually revealed bits and pieces of his background scene by scene. So, by providing information little by little, I created a gradual transition where he starts out as an NPC and eventually becomes a fully realized human being.<\/p>\n

\"Exit\u00a9<\/b>Courtesy of Neon\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Q: Since I imagine there\u2019s a lot of repetitive work involved, I heard that on set you actually filmed and edited simultaneously. Could you tell me about the benefits of doing that, as well as any challenges you faced?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genki Kawamura: First of all, the handicap is that we decided the story would unfold exclusively within the loop of that exact same underground passageway, right? That means we wouldn\u2019t use flashbacks or anything like that. If we flip that constraint on its head, the fact that it\u2019s the same space means retakes are possible\u2014that\u2019s the advantage. In Japan, I think only directors like Yoji Yamada and Ryusuke Hamaguchi are really allowed to do retakes; usually, they\u2019re not permitted here.<\/p>\n

But since we could do it this time, I wondered if we could create something like real-time rendering in a video game. In other words, we\u2019d shoot according to the script on set, edit it right there, then everyone\u2014including Ninomiya-kun\u2014would watch it. If it didn\u2019t work, we\u2019d rewrite the script on the spot, reshoot it, and edit it back together. That\u2019s why Ninomiya-kun started referring to himself as a \u201ctest player\u201d partway through.<\/p>\n

We approached it like making a video game. So I thought that if we used a unique production method, it would result in a unique film.<\/p>\n

Q: The so-called \u201cmechanical smile\u201d of Yamato Kouchi, who plays \u201cThe Walking Man\u201d\u2014a character who merely passes by others in the film\u2014was quite terrifying. I hear he\u2019s currently in New York as well. Could you tell us a little about how you came to cast him? Also, regarding his movements, they were incredibly mechanical, and I found them truly astonishing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genki Kawamura: Yamato Kawachi is originally a stage actor who has performed in Shakespearean plays and the like, but he\u2019s hardly ever appeared in films. I actually thought it would be more interesting to see a face I\u2019d never seen before rather than an actor I recognized walking down that hallway. When Mr. Tabata from the casting department suggested him, I thought he was a perfect fit\u2014not only did he look the part, but he also mentioned that he\u2019d been training in walking on stage for a long time, so I felt he was ideally suited for the role.<\/p>\n

On set, I directed him by saying things like, \u201cI want you to walk like CGI\u201d or \u201cI want you to laugh like AI.\u201d I was wondering if we could somehow create that sense of unease\u2014that feeling you get when a human physically mimics CGI or AI movements. The inspiration came from the movements of Noh theater actors, specifically the Noh masks and movements that lack vertical motion. I conveyed these ideas to Mr. Kawachi as a reference.<\/p>\n

\"Exit\u00a9<\/b>Courtesy of Neon\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Q: This film was selected for the Midnight Screenings at the Cannes Film Festival. I believe you yourself have had works screened at Cannes\u2014the short film, \u201cWhich One?\u201d and the feature film \u201cMonster\u201d. Recently, the actress Megumi has been working with Netflix to bring Japanese content to the world. What approach do you think is necessary for distributing Japanese films globally in the future? Eight years ago, you founded a production company called \u201cStory.\u201d What approach do you think is necessary for bringing Japanese films to the world in the future?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genki Kawamura: That\u2019s right. The group I founded eight years ago, called \u201cStory,\u201d is dedicated to the mission of ensuring that Japanese works\u2014whether they\u2019re animations like Makoto Shinkai\u2019s films, projects I\u2019ve created with Kore-eda, or live-action films like this very \u201cExit 8<\/strong>\u201d\u2014achieve genuine global success. I don\u2019t think you can definitively say, \u201cIf you do this, people will watch it globally,\u201d but for live-action films, the most important thing is that film festivals are the only place where they can be discovered. There are opportunities, but plenty of them.<\/p>\n

So, this time, as a video game adaptation, we were told it was the first to be included in the Cannes Official Selection. While retaining that sense of Japanese pop culture\u2014like a video game adaptation\u2014we were able to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival with a strong thematic focus, a compelling narrative, and unique visual expression. I think that creating works like this is what leads to a gateway to the world.<\/p>\n

Being here in the U.S. now, I realize that having Neon as the distributor is a tremendous asset for this film. I really sense in Neon the confidence and meticulousness of their promotion\u2014or rather, the abundance of ideas\u2014that films like \u201cParasite<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cAnora<\/strong>\u201d have demonstrated by winning Oscars and the Palme d\u2019Or at Cannes.<\/p>\n<\/ins>\n

Q: I\u2019ve heard that, thanks to your father\u2019s influence, you watched quite a lot of movies growing up. Could you tell us which films actually influenced you as a child, and how do you think those influences are reflected in your filmmaking today?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genki Kawamura: That\u2019s right. What really stuck with me was a videotape of Kenji Mizoguchi\u2019s \u201cUgetsu<\/strong>\u201d. Even as a kid, I was just watching in awe as Kazuo Miyagawa(cinematographer), in a single take, connected spaces and moments of time that shouldn\u2019t have been connected through incredibly fluid camerawork. In this film\u2019s incredibly long single shot, where disconnected spaces and time that shouldn\u2019t be connected are brought together.<\/p>\n

I was definitely influenced by Mr. Mizoguchi. It\u2019s a technique I also used quite a lot in my first film, \u201cA Hundred Flowers<\/strong>\u201d, but that influence has been significant since I was a child. Also, we had a VHS tape of \u201cNausica\u00e4 of the Valley of the Wind<\/strong>\u201d at home, I watched it over and over again. Even now, figuring out how to bring the expressive qualities of Japanese animation\u2014which is part of my own identity\u2014into live-action is a personal theme of mine. Works like Satoshi Kon\u2019s \u201cPerfect Blue<\/strong>\u201d or Mamoru Oshii\u2019s \u201cUrusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer<\/strong>\u201d are absolute masterpieces of the loop genre, and I\u2019ve always wondered if I could capture that same sensibility in live-action.<\/p>\n

If you like the interview, share your thoughts below!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out more of Nobuhiro’s articles.<\/a><\/p>\n

Here’s the trailer of the film.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n