 Despite the popular belief that Battle Royale has been banned in the  United States, thats not the case. There are two conflicting (but  similar) stories as to why the film hasnt come out in the U.S.: The  production company, Toei, refuses to license the movie for North  American distribution and has already rejected offers from several  North American companies; or: The licensing price is unusually high  for this kind of film and smaller independent film companies  (Tartan, Synapse, Sundance) cant afford it, while larger companies  specializing in independent film (The Weinstein Company/Miramax,  Fine Line, Warner Independent, Fox Searchlight) wont buy it for  that price. A third story was that no distributor was willing to  pick the film up after the Columbine incident, due to the nature of  the film being teenage students killing each other.