“Battle Royale” (バトル・ロワイアル), Rare Original First Release Japanese B1 Movie Poster 2000, B1 Size (c. 72.8 × 103 cm)
Sale price$200.00
This is an original Japanese B1 theatrical poster printed in 2000 for the first release of Battle Royale (バトル・ロワイアル), directed by Kinji Fukasaku, with a screenplay by Kenta Fukasaku, based on Kōshun Takami’s 1999 novel. Starring Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarō Yamamoto, Chiaki Kuriyama, Kō Shibasaki, Masanobu Andō, and Takeshi Kitano, the film follows a class of students forced into a state-run survival programme where only one can live.
Film background Released at the turn of the millennium, Battle Royale became a defining work of Japanese genre cinema—part political dystopia, part shock-thriller, and part pitch-black satire. Controversial on release yet instantly unforgettable, it’s widely regarded as one of Fukasaku’s most important late-career films, and its core premise helped cement the modern “last-person-standing” survival narrative as a global pop-culture staple.
Design This B1 design is brutally graphic and instantly iconic: a deep black field dominated by colossal blood-red block typography spelling the title vertically, with the BR “Survival Program” crest / laurel emblem ghosted beneath like an official seal. The right-hand side becomes a towering manifesto of Japanese text—styled as an authoritarian announcement—with key phrases punched in red, including the vertical “BR法” (BR Law) callout. At the bottom, the printed details complete the “in-world” propaganda feel: 12月16日 全国東映系にて公開 (nationwide Toei release), a “NOT FOR SALE” notice, and the original www.battle-royale.com URL—details collectors love because they anchor it firmly as genuine first-release promotional material.
Rarity Japanese B1 posters were produced in far smaller numbers than the standard B2 size, and Battle Royale is a title with constant international collector demand. Large-format original 2000-release B1s—especially this stark, text-led “BR Law” design—are increasingly difficult to source in displayable condition.
Condition Very Good. This is a genuine folded, cinema-issued example, and we have taken the condition into account when pricing. There are visible fold lines, light handling/edge wear, and minor fold-wear/creasing consistent with original distribution and cinema use (see photos, front and back). Despite this, the poster remains extremely displayable—once framed it presents powerfully, with the bold red title, crisp white text, and deep black field reading beautifully.
This is an original Japanese B1 theatrical poster from the 2000 release. It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
