Overview

• On August 5, Searchlight Pictures released the first trailer for “Rental Family,” revealing its premise of an American actor joining a Japanese rental family service in Tokyo.
• Brendan Fraser stars as a struggling expat who accepts surrogate family gigs in his first leading role since winning the 2022 Best Actor Oscar for “The Whale.”
• Directed and co-written by Hikari with cinematographer Stephen Blahut, the dramedy was filmed on location in Japan from March to May 2024.
• The marketing push features immersive, studio-unbranded advertisements that mimic real agency outreach to promote the film’s concept.
• “Rental Family” will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September before opening wide on November 21, 2025.