A planned Japanese film inspired by the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reportedly been shelved amid controversy over its fictional premise, which allegedly portrayed a Korean hitman as the real assassin.
On September 15th, Japanese outlet Gendai Business reported, citing an anonymous entertainment-industry source, that the screenplay centered on “a religious organization plotting to assassinate a highly popular sitting prime minister.” Rather than recreating the Abe case directly, however, the story reportedly introduced a fictional conspiracy in which another killer was responsible.
According to the report, the character modeled after Tetsuya Yamagami, who was convicted in connection with Abe’s killing, was portrayed as a scapegoat used to conceal the identity of the real assassin. The actual killer in the screenplay was a hired Korean hitman.
Reports of the project first surfaced in Japan earlier this month, with actor Masaki Suda named as a potential candidate to play the character modeled after Yamagami. However, Suda was reportedly reluctant to take on the role, while the project itself drew concerns over dramatizing a politically sensitive case while legal proceedings were still ongoing.
The reported “Korean hitman” storyline also raised concerns about potential diplomatic controversy, and the film project was ultimately abandoned.
Abe was shot while delivering a campaign speech in Nara in July 2022 and later died from his injuries. Yamagami was sentenced to life imprisonment at his first trial and appealed the ruling in February 2026; that appeal remains pending.
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