EMPEROR is directed by Peter Webber (GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING), written by Vera Blasi (WOMAN ON TOP, TORTILLA SOUP) and David Klass (WALKING TALL, DESPERATE MEASURES, KISS THE GIRLS) and stars Tommy Lee Jones (nominated this year for Critics Choice and Golden Globe awards for his supporting role in Steven Spielberg’s LINCOLN), Matthew Fox (WORLD WAR Z, ALEX CROSS, Lost) and Eriko Hatsune. Producers are Yoko Narahashi (THE LAST SAMURAI), Gary Foster (SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE, GHOST RIDER, DAREDEVIL, TIN CUP, THE SOLOIST), Eugene Nomura (TAJOMARU, SURELY SOME DAY) and Russ Krasnoff (THE SOLOIST).
The behind-the-scenes team include Oscar-nominated director of photography Stuart Dryburgh (TEXAS KILLING FIELDS, THE TEMPEST, THE PIANO), Academy Award-winning production designer Grant Major (KING KONG, THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy), and Academy Award-winning costume designer Ngila Dickson (THE ILLUSIONIST, THE LAST SAMURAI, THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy).
Roadside Attractions will open EMPEROR on March 8.
A gripping tale of love and honor forged between fierce enemies of war, EMPEROR tells the story, inspired by true events, of the bold and secret moves that won the peace in the shadows of post-war Japan. Starring Academy Award-winner Tommy Lee Jones, Matthew Fox, and newcomer Eriko Hatsune, EMPEROR brings to life the American occupation of Japan in the perilous and unpredictable days just after Emperor Hirohito’s World War II surrender. As General Douglas MacArthur (Jones) suddenly finds himself the de facto ruler of a foreign nation, he assigns an expert in Japanese culture – General Bonner Fellers (Fox), to covertly investigate the looming question hanging over the country: should the Japanese Emperor, worshiped by his people but accused of war crimes, be punished or saved?
