I seem to remember that Quentin Tarantino on having seen the first of the Heisei Gameras at Cannes was interested in buying it for a theatrical run in North America, but by that point it had already been sold to the video company which released it straight-to-video. Looking back, one could only imagine what a Tarantino-promoted theatrical release in the mid-90s (just between Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown) would have meant for the movie's (and the sequels') popularity.