Tom Cruise has a reputation for cheerleading movies he loves, even when he’s nowhere near the credits. With ‘Kokuho,’ he went a step further: he booked a theater and threw the movie its own night.
Tom Cruise hosted a surprise LA screening and could not stop raving
On December 11, 2025, Cruise hosted a special screening of ‘Kokuho’ at the Culver Theater in Los Angeles, with director Lee Sang-il in attendance. Before the movie rolled, Cruise introduced Lee and gave the crowd a pitch that sounded less like polite hype and more like he’d just seen one of his favorite films of the year.
"This is a very, very special movie and one that you must see on the big screen."
He singled out Ken Watanabe as a standout — calling him a brilliant, wildly generous actor — and then broadened the praise to the whole ensemble. According to Cruise, every performer in this thing brings it, and they didn’t just show up and wing it. He said the actors trained for about 18 months to nail the kabuki performances, and that Watanabe spent a long stretch preparing for his role. Cruise also mentioned he’s been to Japan many times, studied the country’s history, and even watched kabuki, which makes his enthusiasm here feel extra personal.
So what is ‘Kokuho’?
The title means ‘national treasure,’ and the story tracks a kabuki performer whose life is basically built for drama: he’s born into a yakuza family, later adopted by a kabuki actor, and dedicates himself to the stage with one goal — to be recognized as a living national treasure. It’s adapted from a 2018 novel by Yoshida Shuichi and directed by Lee Sang-il.
Who made it, who’s in it, and why awards folks care
- Director: Lee Sang-il
- Based on: the 2018 novel by Yoshida Shuichi
- Cast: Ryo Yoshizawa (‘Kingdom’), Ken Watanabe (‘The Last Samurai’), Ryusei Yokohama (‘Your Eyes Tell’), Mitsuki Takahata, Shinobu Terajima, Min Tanaka
- Festival debut: Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes this year
- Japan’s Oscar pick: Chosen by Japan’s Motion Picture Producers Association as the country’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the next Oscars; roughly nine Japanese films were in the internal mix before this was selected
- Box office at home: Opened in June and grew into a summer hit; by late November it had sold over 12.3 million tickets and climbed past ¥17,765,043,700 (about $113 million), becoming the highest-grossing Japanese live-action film ever in Japan, per trade reports
- Training detail that raised eyebrows: The cast trained for around 18 months to perform kabuki on screen, which helps explain why everyone who sees it won’t shut up about the craft
Why Cruise’s boost matters here
This isn’t an obvious, four-quadrant crowd-pleaser — it’s a deep dive into a traditional art form, told with big, patient swings. The fact that Cruise — Mr. Big Screen himself — hosted a screening months after release says a lot about how strongly ‘Kokuho’ lands when you watch it with an audience.
‘Kokuho’ is now in theaters.