TRANSLATION FROM SANSPO.COM
because I know many of you were there and are mostly likely in this picture and would love to read about it.
posted also to Aibakaland,
a_ra_shi "MatsuJun~" calls at American University Premiere of the movie "The Hidden Fortress"
Members of "ARASHI Secret Agency" who are ecstatic about seeing MatsuJun
[Los Angeles, CA 27th] The remake of Director Kurosawa Akira's "The Hidden Fortress THE LAST PRINCESS" (Director Higuchi Shinji, in theaters 5/10) with Arashi's Matsumoto Jun as the lead role, had a premiere at USC from which George Lucas graduated. Matsumoto was introduced it in English before the movie started, and was thrilled to see people's reactions. He commented positively about coming to the U.S. if he had a chance.
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"Jun!" Around 6:05PM, the theater was filled with screams and heated up as Matsumoto appeared. The people of Los Angeles were excited to see this movie remade after 50 years.
The event was held at the Ellen Norris Theater in USC. This was made possible because Director Lucas, a graduate of USC, gained a hint from Director Kurosawa's original movie to make "Star Wars."
300 people including 200 students from USC arrived. Outside were about 100 people who could not make it in the theater. The premiere featured Matsumoto and Director Higuchi, as well as a special guest Anthony Daniels (63) who played the role of C3PO in Star Wars.
Before the showing, Matsumoto nervously said "I am very honored to be a part of this premiere at the honorable University of Southern California," but naturally smiled as the audience laughed and applauded during the movie. He said "I almost wanted to be the first to stand up and say 'Yes!' I was very nervous to see how people would react, but I was very happy."
The movie is an action adventure in the historical times where a samurai and peasants try to get past the enemy while saving a princess and their gold. After the movie was a question session. Matsumoto commented "I think we received a positive reaction from because Japan was able to prove that we can create high quality action entertainment movies also."
According to Toho, the movie will be shown in Thai and Taiwan (not sure when yet). The U.S. and Europe is under negotiation.
As the movie is possibly to be shown world wide, Matsumoto says about acting in the U.S. that "There's nothing planned, but if I am able to work with an interesting script and staff, I would be willing to take the chance to work on it overcoming differences in language and culture." He promised to work on English, and was excited about possibilities of working worldwide.
+ Fan Club in the U.S., 36 members come to premiere
There is an original fan club for Arashi in the U.S. which includes several thousand members. It is named after the TBS variety show "Himitsu no Arashi-chan!" and is called "ARASHI Secret Agency," and was created about a month ago. On this day, 36 members came to the premiere. Fans grew after Matsumoto's drama "Hana Yori Dango" was aired. Miss Destini Jason (19) who came from Las Vegas commented that "Arashi is funny, sexy, and entertaining. They really value their fans." Matsumoto said that "I am very surprised and very happy to see that our products are known in the U.S. I hope to be able to pay them back somehow."
WOW. I TOTALLY WISH I COULD'VE BEEN THERE. :( But I am glad everyone enjoyed it and the media was very interested in the fact that there are fans out here. And now Arashi knows! All around the world, guys. Seriously. You don't know how popular you guys really truly are.