Category: Movie announcements

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

On Thursday it was announced that Teruyoshi Uchimura of the comedy duo Ucchan Nanchan is working on a new movie called Bokutachi no Koukan Nikki (literally “our exchange diary”), his first since his 2006 feature-length debut Peanuts.

The film is based on the novel “Geinin Koukan Nikki ~ Yellow Heart no Monogatari” by screenwriter and television personality Osamu Suzuki. The story revolves around a fictional manzai comedy duo that are forced to deal with various problems due to their sustained lack of success.

Last year, Masayasu Wakabayashi of the comedy duo Audrey and actor Kei Tanaka co-starred in a stage adaptation of the novel.

This version will star Atsushi Ito and Keisuke Koide as a comedy duo called “Bousou Swimmers” who have been living in utter obscurity since forming 12 years earlier. At the end of their tether, they decide to start an exchange diary as a way to communicate with each other.

Filming of “Bokutachi no Koukan Nikki” began on May 6 and a release is planned for sometime in 2013.

Source: Eiga.com

The upcoming film adaptation of Ryo Wada’s debut 2007 novel, “Nobō no Shiro” (English title: The Floating Castle), was originally supposed to be released in Japan on September 17, 2011, but was delayed after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Today a new date was announced: November 2, 2012.

Additionally, it’s been revealed that the rock band Elephant Kashimashi will be providing the film’s theme, a brand new song made in time for the 30th anniversary of their forming.

“The Floating Castle” will mark the first starring film role for Mansai Nomura since 2003’s Onmyoji 2. He’ll be portraying historical figure Narita Nagachika, the beloved keeper of Oshi Castle who led 500 guards to defend against 20,000 invading troops sent by the powerful daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi in an attempt to unify Japan under one rule.

The plot is actually the main reason the it was pushed back. It was felt that releasing a film that depicts Ishida Mitsunari’s water attack didn’t seem appropriate so close to the disaster.

The project is epic in scope and reportedly took 7 years of planning to pull off under the direction of Isshin Inudo and Shinji Higuchi (it was originally presented as a film treatment in 2003).

Its official website has been completely relaunched as a splash screen minus the TV spot and teaser that were released last year, so we can expect a fresh round of publicity over the next few months leading up to its release. Stay tuned.

Source: Cinema Today

Edit: Fixed the bit about the water attack

Today it was announced that Megumi Ohori, who recently graduated from the all-girl idol group SDN48, will be starring in a new horror movie based on the Kuchisake-onna (slit-mouthed woman) urban legend called Kuchisake-onna Returns.

The legend, which has been the subject of numerous dramas and movies over the years, involves a woman wearing a large mask over her mouth who is said to walk up to people and ask “Am I beautiful?”. If the person confirms that she is, she removes the mask to reveal a large gaping slit across her mouth and says “Even now?” The details of the legend vary, but suffice it to say things never end well.

The new movie will put a bit of a spin on the legend, pitting kuchisake-onna against kuchisake-onna.

Ohori will play an unsuspecting graduate student named Airi (or Eri?) who gets drawn into the fight when she visits a village where kuchisake-onna are worshiped as gods.

Ohori’s co-stars will include Yuka Rikuna, Yuna Mikuni, Mami Yamashita, Ryoji Sugimoto, Nobuyuki Kase, and Natsu Kashu.

“Kuchisake-onna” will be released in Japan this summer.

Source: Cinema Today

Edit: Fixed Ohori’s membership status in SDN48 (she graduated in March).