It was adapted by Kenta Fukasaku[?] from the novel by Koshun Takami[?]. The book and film bear some parallels to the story The Most Dangerous Game[?].
The film was directed by longtime Japanese director Fukasaku Kinji[?]. He was also hired to direct a sequel, Battle Royale II[?], but died of prostate cancer before he could finish. His son completed the film in his stead.
wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump