Actor Yutaka Takenouchi is returning to the big screen after a six-year absence. He last starred in the 2001 hit "Reisei to Jounetsu no Aida" with Hong Kong star Kelly Chen. Now, he is taking the lead in an adaptation of Janet Lee Carey's "Wenny Has Wings."

Takenouchi plays the owner of a photo studio, who is married to a piano teacher (Miki Mizuno) and has two children, a girl in the fourth grade and a boy in kindergarten. They lead an ordinary and happy life until a tragic accident strains the bonds between them.

Director Shin Togashi is in charge of the movie. Sony Music Entertainment and Sundance Company are producing, with distribution to be handled by Sony Pictures. Filming begins later this month. The movie is scheduled to open during Golden Week next year.

Actor Yoichi Nukumizu has been cast in his first lead movie role. He stars in Masatoshi Akihara's "Ito no Hanashi," to be released on April 12, 2008.

The story is a modern take on "Ito Norisuke no Hanashi" by Yakumo Koizumi (aka Lafcadio Hearn). Nukumizu plays a professor at Hachinohe University who simultaneously falls for a beautiful assistant and a fairy.