A cast announcement for the live-action version of "20th Century Boys" was made on Sunday. Toshiaki Karasawa will star as the main character Kenji Endo, while Etsushi Toyokawa plays Otcho and Takako Tokiwa plays Yukiji.

Directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi, the film adaptation is based on Naoki Urasawa's popular manga of the same name, a sci-fi suspense story that has Kenji and his friends trying to save the world from destruction. Urasawa himself is involved in the screenplay.

The manga is actually being adapted as a trilogy of films, with the first one being released on August 30. Part 2 is scheduled for the spring of 2009, and Part 3 will follow in the fall. The total budget for the project is a massive 6 billion yen, possibly making it the biggest domestic production of this year.

Filming for the first two movies started on Sunday and is expected to wrap up in late June. Part 3 is scheduled to be shot from mid-August to late October. Filming is taking place in a total of at least 7 countries, as the movies will include scenes of various parts of the world collapsing.

It was also announced that the theme song for the first movie will be the 1973 hit "20th Century Boy" by the English rock band T. Rex. That song provided the inspiration for Urasawa's original manga.

The international popularity of the manga has reportedly led to distribution offers in 34 countries so far.