It has been confirmed that the “Kaibutsu-kun” drama series, starring Arashi’s Satoshi Ohno (30), has a movie version in the works. The film will be shot in 3D and is said to be a huge project, with some sources reporting that NTV is investing approximately 2 billion yen for the film’s production budget. Yoshihiro Nakamura (“Golden Slumber,” “Team Batista no Eikou”) has been tapped to direct.
Although the drama only averaged 13.9% during its original broadcast run last year, it reportedly had ratings of 24.2% among young children and families. The show already got a special episode last year, and the characters from the show also made an appearance at NHK’s Kouhaku Uta Gassen.
This will be Ohno’s first solo starring role in a movie. Besides him, the show’s main cast will reprise their roles, including Norito Yashima, Ryuhei Ueshima, Choi Hong Man, Takeshi Kaga, Masahiro Matsuoka (TOKIO), Izumi Inamori, Umika Kawashima, and Tatsuomi Hamada. Of course, new characters will be added as well, including an original villain.
Filming will begin this month, and some scenes will be shot in southeast Asia as the story involves Kaibutsu-kun and his friends going on an adventure to a fictional country.
Production is aiming to finish around October. Although an exact release date has not yet been set, various sources are reporting that the film will either be released around Christmas or the New Year holiday season.
Source – Tokyograph
