‘Fukushima 50’ to Star Ken Watanabe and Koichi Sato|

By Patrick Frater

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Japan’s Koichi Sato (“Terminal,” “Whiteout,” and “Unforgiven”) and Ken Watanabe (“Inception,” “Letters from Iwo Jima,” “Godzilla,” “The Last Samurai”) star in “Fukushima 50,” a forthcoming film recounting the events of the East Japan earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown of 2011. The survival action drama is directed by Wakamatsu Setsuro (“The Unbroken,” “Whiteout”).

Based on the book “On the Brink: The Inside Story of Fukushima Daiichi,” by Ryusho Kadota, the film’s narrative follows 50 workers who risked their lives by staying at the plant, in order to prevent total destruction of the overheating atomic reactors and minimise devastation. The adapted screenplay was written by Yoichi Maekawa, writer of “Gunji Kanbei,” “Shuhei Nozaki,” and “The Auditor.” Salo plays a power station supervisor, Watanabe plays a site superintendant.

Backed by the Kadokawa Corporation, the film shot in Japan from November 2018 to April. It is due for release in 2020.

“The Fukushima accident shook not only the people of Japan but also around the world. This film is about the powerplant workers on the front line who faced an unprecedented crisis and risked their lives to save their families, their hometown and avert a disaster of global magnitude,” said Wakamatsu. He was speaking at a press event Tuesday in Tokyo.