Battle Royale (Japanese: バトル・ロワイアル, Hepburn: Batoru Rowaiaru) is a 2000 Japanese dystopian action film directed by Kinji Fukasaku and written by Kenta Fukasaku, based on the 1999 novel of the same name by Koushun Takami. The film stars Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarō Yamamoto, Chiaki Kuriyama, Kou Shibasaki, Masanobu Andō, and Beat Takeshi. Set in a dystopian Japan, it follows a class of junior high school students forced by the government to fight one another to the death as part of a compulsory survival program. Battle Royale premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival on October 30, 2000 before its theatrical release by Toei Company on December 16.