On July 22, 2009, former Thee Michelle Gun Elephant guitarist Futoshi Abe died suddenly of an acute epidural hematoma at the age of 42. Abe was a founding member of the band and stayed with them from 1991 until they announced their breakup on October 11, 2003 at the Makuhari Messe convention complex in Chiba city at the conclusion of their "Last Heaven" tour.

It was recently announced that the events from that fateful day, including TMGE's final performance and backstage footage, have been turned into a film using the latest imaging technology -- which I suppose is a fancy way of saying it's all been remastered. The film will be called Michelle Gun Elephant Thee Movie - Last Heaven 031011 and will be released first at Cine Saison Shibuya on December 19, 2009 with a nation-wide road show to follow. Around the same time as the main film's release, a companion film made up of re-edited footage from TMGE's last show called "Thee Scene - Last Heaven 031011" will be shown at live venues throughout Japan over a 10-day span in the spirit of a live tour. A website has been set up with all the details.

This announcement coincides with a few other TMGE releases as well. Various labels have cooperated with Columbia Music Entertainment to release the definitive TMGE greatest hits collection, appropriately titled "Thee Greatest Hits", on December 26th. The collection will feature 32 songs on 2 Super High Material CDs. The limited edition will come with a 15-song DVD of TV performances and a 100-page booklet.

On January 20, 2010, a 10-disc DVD box entitled "Thee Live" will be released by Universal Music including a ton of video footage from TV performances, various live shows, and entire festival recordings.

Sources: Oricon | JaME World

Here's some footage from TMGE's final show (sans fancy imaging technology):

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