Early life Ryuhei Kitamura was born in
Osaka Prefecture, Japan.
Career After graduating, he returned to Japan to establish Napalm Films, his independent production studio. His
featurettes Down to Hell and
Heat after Dark were successful in film festivals, and he soon found his first mainstream success with the
cult film Versus. The film launched the career of stars
Tak Sakaguchi and
Hideo Sakaki, and brought Kitamura international recognition when it was released on DVD outside Japan in 2004. In 2002, Kitamura directed the short film
The Messenger: Requiem for the Dead as part of the
Jam Films project, as well as
Alive. In 2003, he directed a feature film adaptation of the
manga Azumi, and
Sky High, a prequel to the popular Japanese
television drama. He collaborated with director
Yukihiko Tsutsumi in the Duel Project, in which the two challenged one another to produce the best dueling movie with minimal production time and budget, with
Aragami being Kitamura's contribution. Also in 2003, Kitamura served as producer for the film
Battlefield Baseball, the directorial debut of
Versus co-writer
Yūdai Yamaguchi. Kitamura directed 2004's
Godzilla: Final Wars, In 2006, Kitmura directed
LoveDeath, before relocating to
Los Angeles, California. In 2003, he directed the in-game cutscenes for
Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, a remake of the iconic
Metal Gear Solid for the
GameCube. Unlike previous titles in the series,
The Twin Snakes was developed by
Silicon Knights and produced by
Konami. The game featured similar mechanics to
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty due to having been made on the same engine. Kitamura's direction of the cutscenes was viewed as controversial, criticism leveled at its
Matrix-like action tone and unrealistic stunts performed by the characters. Regardless, it went on to receive positive reviews from video game review sites. In 2008, Kitamura made his American filmmaking debut with
Midnight Meat Train based on
Clive Barker's short horror story of the same name. Despite receiving positive reviews from critics, the film was a box office failure. Kitamura's next directorial venture did not come until 2012 with
No One Lives, starring
Luke Evans and
Adelaide Clemens. It was shown as part of the Midnight Madness portion of the
2012 Toronto International Film Festival, and received a limited theatrical release on May 10, 2013. While promoting
No One Lives, Kitamura announced that he was working on his "comeback" film in Japan, stating in an interview, "It's a completely different role than what I've done before. It's also not a bloody movie, not a horror movie. It's a big action movie." In November, 2013, the project was revealed to be
Lupin III, a modern adaptation of the iconic
manga by
Monkey Punch. The film was released in Japan on August 30, 2014. Kitamura's 2017 thriller film,
Downrange, was announced to premiere at Toronto International Film Festival in September 2017. The film follows a group of people on a road trip who are trapped on a country road by a sniper. In 2018, Kitamura directed a segment in the anthology horror film
Nightmare Cinema.
Future projects Kitamura is set to direct the
slasher film Black Friday 3D, based on a screenplay by Joe Knetter. He is also attached to direct
Marble City, a revenge film written by Tom Sjolund, as well as
Gun Monkeys, from a screenplay by
Lee Goldberg based on the novel by
Victor Gischler. In May 2013, Kitamura confirmed that he has written the script for
Versus 2, and that
Tak Sakaguchi would likely reprise his role from the original film. In September 2015, it was announced that Kitamura will direct the supernatural thriller
Vessels for Ubiquity Studios, set to be filmed in early 2016. ==Personal life==