Japanese producer Haruki Kadokawa has announced that his next production will be an adaptation of Shinji Kimoto's award-winning science fiction novel Kamisama No Puzzle (God's Puzzle), to be directed by Takashi Miike.

The film will star Hayato Ichihara (All About Lily Chou-Chou) playing the dual role of identical twin university students. The film co-stars Mitsuki Tanimura (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) as a genius class-cutter who joins the twins in conducting experiments to create their own 'Big Bang'.

The production will be decidedly smaller than Kadokawa's recent epics. The WWII-themed Yamato was a hit at the box office in 2005, earning $44.2m (Y5.09bn), but the March 2007 release Genghis Khan fell well below expectations, only managing to gross $12.1m (Y1.4bn) of its $25m budget.

'It's not a blood-filled story or the kind of film I typically make,' said Miike of his first collaboration with the famous producer.

Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django will have its world premiere in competition at the upcoming Venice Film Festival and its North American premiere in the Toronto International Film Festival's Midnight Madness section prior to its September 15 domestic release.

Kamisama No Puzzle goes before cameras at the Nikkatsu Studios this week and is slated for a summer 2008 release.

Topics