"Team Batista" sequel slated for March

[Tokyograph News]

This past February, TBS released the film "Team Batista no Eikou," based on a medical mystery novel by Takeru Kaido. Due to its success, TBS immediately opted to produce a sequel, which has been dated for March 7, 2009.

"Team Batista" starred Yuko Takeuchi and Hiroshi Abe as a doctor and a government official investigating a series of deaths at a university hospital. The movie made 1.6 billion yen at the box office, and it was turned into a television drama starring Atsushi Ito, which is currently getting decent ratings.

The sequel is adapted from "General Rouge no Gaisen," which is the third book in the same novel series as "Team Batista." Considered to be the best of the series, the novel follows the same main characters as they deal with the issue of emergency medical treatment, which has become a hot topic in recent years. Takeuchi and Abe will again play the starring duo, while Masato Sakai has been cast as the antagonist, the director of an emergency medical center. Other supporting cast members, including Shiro Sano and Tetsuji Tamayama, will reprise their roles.

Yoshihiro Nakamura is again directing. Filming already started on November 19 and is scheduled to wrap up by the end of the year.

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