EXCLUSIVE: Japanese studio Nikkatsu is attending EFM with Hideo Nakata horror Ghost Theatre and Yuki Tanada’s Romance, which teams the female director with award-winning actress-singer Yuko Oshima.

Nakata is revisiting his roots with Ghost Theatre (working title), inspired by his 1996 horror Ghost Actress, made before he filmed The Ring franchise, which kicked off a worldwide interest in J-horror.

While Ghost Actress followed a vengeful spirit that drives a movie crew to insanity, Ghost Theatre is set in a haunted playhouse.

The film has been receiving offers even before footage is available, according to Nikkatsu reps.

Actresses Haruka Shimazaki and Rika Adachi head the cast of the film, which is currently in post-production.

Meanwhile, Tanada’s Romance (working title) stars Oshima as a young woman working on a luxury train who embarks on a road trip with a shady film producer.

A former member of pop band AKB48, Oshima recently won several awards for her supporting role in Daihachi Yoshida’s Pale Moon.

The film marks Tanada’s return to directing her own original screenplay for the first time since One Million Yen, which won the Directors Guild Of Japan ‘New Directors Award’ in 2008.

Japanese release is scheduled for autumn.