5th Live-Action Kingdom Film to Open Next Summer
The official website for the live-action films of Yasuhisa Hara's Kingdom manga announced with a "super teaser visual" on Friday that a fifth film will open next summer. The website confirms that Kento Yamazaki is reprising his role of Shin (Xin), and Shinsuke Satō (live-action Gantz, Death Note Light up the NEW world, Bleach) is also returning to direct. Shinzō Matsuhashi is producing.The first footage from the new sequel film will debut after the uncut television airing of the Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General film on the NTV channel on Friday evening in Japan. Yasuhisa Hara's historical manga centers around the slave boy Xin and his dream of becoming a great general for the state of Qin. Xin helps Ying Zheng, the young Qin king who shares his desire to unify China, rise to power within the state. Xin does all he can to become a superior commander of an army capable of defeating the Seven Warring States.The first live-action film opened in Japan in April 2019, and eventually earned a cumulative total of 5.73 billion yen (about US$53.2 million). Funimation screened the film at Anime Expo in July 2019, and screened the film in theaters in the United States and Canada in August 2019. The second film Kingdom II: Harukanaru Daichi e (To Distant Lands) opened in Japan in July 2022, and earned 5.16 billion yen (about US$37.8 million), making it the highest-earning Japanese live-action film in Japan in 2022.The third film opened in Japan in July 2023 and ranked at #1 in its opening weekend. The film had the best opening weekend among all three Kingdom films to date. The fourth film opened on July 12, 2024. Netflix began streaming the fourth film in January. The record-setting manga launched in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine in 2006. Viz Media will release the manga in English starting in November.The first television anime adaptation premiered in 2012, and a second series premiered in 2013. Funimation streamed both series in North America and released both anime series on DVD in 2016. The third anime series premiered in April 2020. The show went on hiatus after four episodes due to COVID-19, but then resumed airing in April 2021. The anime restarted its airing from the first episode. Funimation streamed the anime as it aired in Japan. The fourth series premiered on NHK General in April 2022. Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired. The fifth season premiered in January 2024, and aired for 13 episodes. Crunchyroll also streamed the season as it aired. The sixth season will premiere in October.Source: Live-action Kingdom films' website, Comic Natalie
