Tetsuya Fujiwara to star in live-action "Kaiji"

[Tokyograph News]

It has been officially announced that Nobuyuki Fukumoto's manga series "Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji" is getting a live-action movie adaptation, simply titled "Kaiji." The film, which will star "Death Note" actor Tatsuya Fujiwara as the gambling protagonist, is the first for director Toya Sato, better known for his work on television dramas such as "Gokusen" and "My Boss My Hero."

The original comic ran for three series between 1996 and this year, and its 39 tankoubon volumes have sold over 11 million copies. It won a Kodansha Manga Award in 1998, and this past fall and winter it was turned into an anime series.

Teruyuki Kagawa and Yuki Amami have been revealed as additional cast members. The film's budget is said to be several hundred million yen, and there is a possibility of the movie being expanded into a series. "Kaiji" will be released sometime in 2009.

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