On Wednesday, Cinema Today reported that a new live-action film adaptation of Go Nagai’s Kekko Kamen manga will be released on June 2nd.

Kekko Kamen Shinsei -REBORN- will star AV actress Aino Kishi (Samurai Princess) as Mayumi Takahashi, a girl who transfers to an elite university called Sparta Academy which is run by an evil pervert called “Toenail of Satan”. Teachers at the school punish and humiliate students using devices created by their sadistic leader.

The often-punished Takahashi often finds herself getting saved from the school’s torture chamber by a female superhero called “Kekko Kamen” who comes to her rescue completely naked except for a red mask, boots, gloves, and a scarf. Like American comic book superheroes, Kekko Kamen keeps her true identity a tightly-guarded secret.

“Kekko Kamen Reborn” will get a late show screening at Ginza Cine Pathos from June 2, 2012.

via ANN

Today it was revealed that Junichi Okada of the boy band V6 will be playing Zero fighter pilot Kyuzo Miyabe in a film adaptation of Naoki Hyakuta’s popular novel Eien no Zero. Takashi Yamazaki of the ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street franchise will direct.

Okada, who has never appeared in a war-themed project before, is taking the role very seriously and plans to chop a good deal of his hair off before filming begins. Co-stars Haruma Miura are Mao Inoue are equally prepared for the June start date.

In the film, Miura plays a young man named Kentaro Saeki who has been trying unsuccessfully to realize his dream of passing the bar exam. Together, with his freelance writer sister, he begins investigating the circumstances surrounding their grandfather Kyuzo’s death in a kamikaze attack during the Pacific War.

Kyuzo had an unusually strong fear of death and unmatched will to survive, so why would he volunteer for suicide? They unexpectedly discover that their grandfather’s Navy comrades referred to him as “gifted, but a coward”. The two of them uncover astonishing facts which have been sealed for 60 years.

Okada will play Kyuzo, a Zero fighter pilot who continually professed his desire to “return to his wife alive”, even as the Japanese military faced increasing odds of defeat. Inoue will play his wife.

Distributor Toho has announced principal photography of “Eien no Zero” will begin in June on-location in Amami Ōshima, Chiba City, and Ibaraki with the inclusion of lots of large-scale aerial acrobatics shot from the sky. It will take about three months to shoot. After post-production, it should be ready for release in Japan around spring 2013.

Source: Eiga.com

Edit: Fixed Inoue’s role

The official website for Sakurako Fukuyama’s upcoming live-action film adaptation of Ai wo Utau Yori Ore ni Oborero! (English title: Be Crazy About Me!) has been updated with a trailer.

Based on a manga by Mayu Shinjo, the film stars Ito Ono as Mizuki Sakurazaka and Karam of the South Korean boy band DGNA as Akira Shiraishi.

Mizuki, considered the “prince” of her all-girls school, has always looked like a boy and has many female admirers.

One day, “Blaue Rosen”, the all-girl rock band she fronts, is on stage during a live show when what appears to be a young female fan approaches. However, it’s not a female fan. It’s Shiraishi, the “princess” of a nearby all-boys school—and he’s come to make a bold love confession.

Shiraishi desperately wants to join Blaue Rosen in place of a departing member, but he must first overcome Mizuki’s mistrust.

“Be Crazy About Me!” will be released by Kadokawa Pictures in Japan on August 25, 2012.

Source: ANN

Screen Daily is reporting that International production and distribution company Pictures Dept. has picked up the worldwide sales rights to a yet-untitled Shinji Aoyama film based on Shinya Tanaka’s Akutagawa Prize-winning novel “Tomogui” (Dog Eat Dog). He will reportedly be teaming up with stylejam producer Naoki Kai on the project, who he worked with on 2007’s Sad Vacation.

The original novel revolves around a 17-year-old boy named Tooma Shinogaki who lives with his father and his father’s new girlfriend in an isolated riverside town. Having to witness his father’s sadistic sexual behavior toward his girlfriend on a daily basis, Tooma grows increasingly frustrated and disgusted, but he’s also influenced by it and has a difficult time fighting the urge to try it out with a local high school girl.

Aoyama will be adapting the screenplay himself. Filming will begin this autumn in the Kyushu region and a Japanese release is tentatively slated for spring 2013.

Today it was announced that Osamu Mukai and Aoi Miyazaki will be co-starring for the first time as husband and wife in a new film by Ryuichi Hiroki called Kiiroi Zou (literally Yellow Elephant).

The movie is based on a popular 2006 novel by Kanako Nishi. In fact, when the book was first introduced in the literary magazine “Da Vinci”, Miyazaki was quoted as saying, “Someday, I want to play ‘Tsuma’ from this novel.” Mukai also reportedly shared her fondness of the original work.

The two protagonists of the story are a married couple who refer to one another simply as “Muko-san” and “Tsuma” (also the word for “wife”). Specifically, Miyazaki plays Aiko Tsumari, the loving, somewhat unworldly wife of an unsuccessful novelist named Ayumi Muko (Mukai). The couple share a peaceful, close relationship together, but they begin to grow apart little by little after a certain letter arrives addressed to Muko.

Filming of “Kiiroi Zou” took place in Mie Prefecture and several other locations from April 11th to May 11th. A release is planned for sometime in 2013.

Source: Eiga.com

The official website for Toru Hosokawa’s upcoming island survival movie Paikaji Nankai Sakusen has been updated with a trailer.

Based on a 2004 novel by Makoto Shiina which has been described as modern spin on Robinson Crusoe, the film stars Sadao Abe as a cameraman named Sasaki who decides to take a trip to an island in southern Japan to cheer himself up after being laid off.

After he gets drunk with some campers one night, he wakes up to discover he’s been relieved of all his money and possessions. Later, he meets a young man from the city named Okkochi (Kento Nagayama), the Kansai dialect-speaking Apa (Shihori Kanjiya), and Kimi (Nozomi Sasaki) and the four of them begin a life of island survival together.

One day, Sasaki hears a rumor of the four homeless campers who stole his stuff, and he begins formulating an intricate plan to both recover his property and get revenge.

“Paikaji Nankai Sakusen” will be released by King Records and T-Joy on July 14, 2012.

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A second behind-the-scenes clip has been released for Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage Beyond, following up the first released back in early May.

In the new footage, former Sanno-kai boss Otomo (Kitano) clashes with Hanabishi-kai lieutenants Nishino (Toshiyuki Nishida) and Nakata (Sansei Shiomi).

“Outrage Beyond” will be released by Warner Bros. in Japan on October 6, 2012. Obviously, there are a lot of people eagerly anticipating the completion of this project, from fans to film festival programmers. According to producer Masayuki Mori, they’ve already received several inquiries on the status of production from overseas film industry insiders.

Source: Cinema Today

Today it was revealed that former THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT front man Yusuke Chiba and former BLANKEY JET CITY drummer Tatsuya Nakamura will be teaming up for the first time to create a theme song for Toshiaki Toyoda’s upcoming film I’m Flash!

Additionally, they’ll be putting together a concept album under the name “I’m Flash! Band” along with bandmates Kazuhide Yamaji and KenKen.

The film was written and directed by Toyoda and was originally inspired by the song “Oh no! I’m Flash” by Sheena & The Rokkets guitarist Makoto Ayukawa (video).

Tatsuya Fujiwara, who was eager to work with Toyoda for the first time, stars as the charismatic leader of an upstart religious group who is involved in an accident which leaves a mysterious girl named Rumi (Kiko Mizuhara) in a vegetative state. In the aftermath, he flees to a desert island with a group of former yakuza bodyguards as his involvement in the incident is covered up.

His other co-stars include Ryuhei Matsuda, Kento Nagayama, Itsuji Itao, Yukiya Kitamura, and Michiyo Ookusu.

The “I’m Flash!” concept album will be released on August 22, 2012, followed by the release of the movie in September.

Source: Cinema Today

The official website for Toru Yamamoto’s Good Morning Everyone! has been relaunched with a new teaser trailer.

Based on a novel by Toriko Yoshikawa, the movie stars Kumiko Aso as a former punk rock guitarist named Aki who lives with her 15-year-old daughter Hatsuki (Ayaka Miyoshi), who she shares a friend-like relationship with.

One day, Aki’s former bandmate Yagu (Yo Oizumi) returns home after being overseas for two years and Hatsuki soon starts getting irritated by the way Aki puts up with Yagu’s carefree lifestyle.

Meanwhile, Hatsuki is upset about her best friend Tomo transferring to a new school—a situation Aki and Yagu can relate to.

“Good Morning Everyone!” will be released by Showgate in Japan this December.

With Naoko Ogigami’s Rent-a-Cat out today in Japan, distributor Suurkiitos is pulling no punches in the attempt to woo cat lovers. This new 3-minute special preview video is packed wall-to-wall with cats.

The movie stars Mikako Ichikawa as a woman named Sayoko who rents out a few of her many, many cats to lonely people in town. Sayoko has spent most of her life bouncing between quirky side jobs while living in her late grandmother’s cat-filled house in the corner of town. When she’s reunited with a man from her past (Kei Tanaka), her life is soon turned upside-down.

The new trailer for Mika Ninagawa’s Helter Skelter has been uploaded to YouTube. Jiji Press has included a short behind the scenes clip of Ninagawa coaching up her star Erika Sawajiri for one of many bonkers reaction shots.

Based on a manga by Kyoko Okazaki, the film stars Sawajiri as a beautiful model named Ririko who has reigned at the top of the entertainment world while assembling an ever-growing list of jealous rivals. However, she hides the fact that her appearance has been obtained almost entirely through radical plastic surgery procedures.

Ruriko closely guards her secret while navigating the dog-eat-dog world of the entertainment business, but she’ll soon be involved in a scandal that affects not only her industry, but society in general.

“Helter Skelter” will be released by Asmik Ace Entertainment in Japan on July 14, 2012.

A 1080p version of the trailer itself is also available on the Asmik Ace YouTube channel.

The official website for Takeshi Furusawa’s upcoming live-action adaptation of Yukito Ayatsuji’s horror novel Another has been updated with a new full trailer.

Kento Yamazaki plays a 15-year-old boy named Koichi Sakakibara who moves to the suburban mountain town of Yomiyama to live with his grandparents in the spring of 1998. One day, he suffers a seizure caused by a chronic lung condition and collapses. While in the hospital recovering, he sees a beautiful girl wearing an eye patch (Ai Hashimoto) who makes a strange comment about about the morgue on the second floor and suddenly vanishes.

He meets up with her again when he attends middle school. Her name is Mei Misaki and Koichi can’t help but notice how oddly the other students and teachers seem to act around her. He makes several attempts to get to know her better, but fails repeatedly. However, when their classmates start dying one by one in bizarre accidents, she’s the only person who can help him unravel the mysterious cause.

“Another” is co-distributed by Toho and Kadokawa Pictures and will be released in Japan on August 4, 2012.

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A 30-second teaser for Shion Sono’s upcoming film The Land of Hope has been uploaded to the official YouTube channel of its distributor, Bitters End.

It’s set in the Japanese countryside and revolves around a couple, Yoichi (Jun Murakami) and Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka), who are living in a village as humble dairy farmers with Yoichi’s parents Yasuhiko (Isao Natsuyagi) and Chieko (Naoko Otani).

One day, a huge earthquake strikes and an evacuation begins, but Yoichi is hesitant to leave their lifetime home behind. When he discovers his wife is pregnant, he must do whatever it takes to protect her and their unborn child. Meanwhile, their neighbors (Yutaka Shimizu, Hikari Kajiwara, Denden, and Mariko Tsutsui). have to make their own choice about evacuation.

“The Land of Hope” is scheduled for an autumn release in Japan. A quick UK release is also likely due to Third Window Films being one of the co-producers.

Edit: Replaced with subtitled version

Suzuka Morita of Idoling!!! and Mariya Suzuki of AKB48 are set to star in two new horror movies due out on the same day this summer.

Both movies, 2-channel no Noroi Shin Gekijoban: Honki (starring Suzuki) and Anata no Shiranai Kowai Hanashi Gekijoban (starring Morita), are theatrical versions of DVD releases which recently gained popularity.

Just a few days ago, it was announced that Morita will be graduating from Idoling!!! at the end of this month to concentrate on her acting, so she’s apparently wasting no time getting on with the next phase of her career.

In “Anata no Shiranai Kowai wa Gekijoban”, she’ll be playing a graduate student whose mother was killed by a prowler when she was a small child, leaving her emotionally scarred. Because of this, she seeks revenge by invoking a curse on the man in the form of a video.

Suzuki, who played the lead role in Jiro Nagae’s Kokkuri-san last year, will be appearing in the sequel to last year’s 2-channel no Noroi Gekijoban, which revolves around a cursed website inspired by a forum thread on the 2-chan message board. In contrast to her previous high school girl roles, Suzuki will get the chance to play an an adult for once, portraying a real estate agent struggling against a powerful evil presence.

Both will be released in Japan on June 2, 2012. Although technically separate movies, the actresses will be together for a joint stage greeting.

Source: Cinema Today

Say what you will about how tightly controlled Japanese movie publicity is, but they sure know how to keep a secret. Just one day from the theatrical release of Tsutomu Hanabusa’s Sadako 3D in Japan, the young actress playing the latest incarnation of Sadako has finally been revealed: Ai Hashimoto.

There was actually a preview screening held back in April, but the 12 minutes of end footage that would have revealed her identity was left out.

The casting puts her in good company. Although the first Sadako was played by kabuki actress Rie Inoo for her ability to move creepily, subsequent Sadakos were played by famous actresses such as Yukie Nakama and Tae Kimura.

Anyone who follows mainstream Japanese films should be pretty familiar with Hashimoto at this point. She’s appeared in a slew of movies since her debut in 2009. Most notably, her performance in Tetsuya Nakashima’s critically-adored 2010 film Confessions made her the ultimate “it” girl of teen film actresses over the past two years.

In the newest installment of the Ring series, Sadako’s curse is spreading faster than ever thanks to internet video sharing, and her essence floats around in the cloud waiting for an appropriate person to posses by climbing out of their computer monitor.

Unlike the first version of Sadako, who was portrayed as hideous and waterlogged after climbing out of a well, Hashimoto’s version remains a pretty girl, supposedly to entice people who see her into even more fear.

“Sadako 3D” opens in Japan this Saturday.

Source: Eiga.com