Koki Mitani, the comedy director behind box office hits like “The Uchoten Hotel” and “The Magic Hour” is hard at work on a new film called Suteki na Kanashibari: Once in a Blue Moon. According to Mitani, the film will of course be a comedy, but will also include elements of courtroom suspense, ghost fantasy, and drama. It’s a film he’s been planning for over 10 years, but only got the confidence to go ahead with it when he witnessed the positive reaction to “The Magic Hour”.

The cast includes Mitani regulars such as Eri Fukatsu, Kiichi Nakai, and Toshiyuki Nishida as well as actors he hasn’t previously worked with like Hiroshi Abe, Yuko Takeuchi, and Tadanobu Asano.

Fukatsu will play Emi, a third-rate attorney with zero prospects and Abe will play the boss of her law firm. Takeuchi will play both the wife of a murdered capitalist and her own twin sister. Emi attempts to defend the accused murderer, who claims to have been completely immobilized in a hotel room at the time of the incident. However, the only witness to the alibi is a 421-year-old ghost named Rokubee Sarashina (Nishida), who Emi is forced to call to the stand. Asano plays Sarashina’s descendent. Nakai will play the prosecuting attorney.

Established stars Toshiaki Karasawa, Kyoko Fukada, Koichi Sato (as Murata from “The Magic Hour”), and Ryoko Shinohara (as Yoko from “The Uchoten Hotel”) will also appear in the film in special guest roles.

Mitani began filming “Suteki na Kanashibari: Once in a Blue Moon” on May 30th, and a release is planned for Fall 2011.

Sources: Cinema Today, Sankei Sports

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Tags: eri fukatsu, hiroshi abe, kiichi nakai, koichi sato, koki mitani, kyoko fukada, once in a blue moon, ryoko shinohara, tadanobu asano, the magic hour, the uchoten hotel, toshiaki karasawa, toshiyuki nishida, yuko takeuchi