Hollywood has been remaking Japanese films for decades, but now Hollywood studios — as part of a worldwide strategy to boost box office in overseas markets — are starting to remake their own films for Japan, with Japanese talent.
One example is "Sideways," the 2004 Alexander Payne film about a failed writer and fussy oenophile who finds love in California's wine country. The 2009 Japanese remake kept the title, but otherwise adapted the original for local tastes, while rounding off the hero's prickly — and interesting — edges.
Something similar has happened to "Ghost," the 1990 Jerry Zucker smash about love beyond the grave. The made- for-Japan version, "Ghost — Mo Ichido Dakishimetai (Ghost: In Your Arms Again)," produced by J-horror maestro Takashige Ichise ("The Ring," "The Grudge") and directed by TV drama veteran Taro Otani, with the backing of Paramount Pictures Japan and Korea's CJ Entertainment, has been thoroughly localized — and domesticated.