"Everest: The Summit of the Gods" Completion Preview Screening

The premiere preview screening for the film "Everest: Summit of the Gods" (distributed by Toho/Asmik Ace) was held on February 4 at TOKYO DOME CITY HALL in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo.

This film, a complete adaptation of Baku Yumemakura's best-selling novel "The Summit of the Gods," is a moving spectacle set on Mount Everest at 8,848 meters, where temperatures plummet to minus 50 degrees Celsius. Filming took place at an altitude of 5,200 meters, a first for a Japanese film, dramatically portraying men challenging the extreme world while risking their lives.

A 1/1000 scale Everest panel set, approximately 8.8 meters tall, was prepared on the preview venue stage. Junichi Okada, who played the ambitious mountain photographer Makoto Fukamachi, Hiroshi Abe, who portrayed the solitary genius climber Joji Hanyu, obsessed with the first-ever challenge in mountaineering history, and Ryoko Kishi, who played the woman whose fate is toyed with by these two men, Ryo Kishi, played by Machiko Ono, alongside other key cast members including Kuranosuke Sasaki, Pierre Taki, Masahiro Komoto, and Shunsuke Kazama. Director Hideyuki Hirayama, who won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Picture for "The Man Who Begs for Love," also appeared on stage for the greeting.

Okada "confessed" an episode from the grueling shoot: "(When climbing Everest) with Abe-san and Ono-san behind me, I felt pressure not to show weakness. Even when measuring blood oxygen levels morning and night, I'd cheat by taking deep breaths (to get good readings), pretending I wasn't suffering even though I really was."

Abe then revealed, "Actually, I did it too. Since I was playing an indomitable climber, I thought I couldn't lose to my junior..." He smiled and exchanged glances with Okada as he shared this hidden truth.

While Okada and Abe reflected on the harshness of nature, Ono commented, "It was super fun," revealing that while other cast members lost weight in the tough environment, she ate too much and gained 3 kilograms.

When asked about "challenges they'd like to take on in life" in reference to the film depicting the most dangerous and passionate challenge, Okada stated, "I want to climb Everest with everyone standing here on this stage." His fellow actors responded with wry smiles and averted their eyes, but Ono showed determination, saying, "I want to challenge myself to climb above 8,000 meters on Everest someday."

The film, which delves into the greatest mystery in Everest's history, opens nationwide on March 12.

©2016 "Everest: The Summit of the Gods" Production Committee