Kankuro Kudo's 2004 stage play "Donju" is being turned into a movie. The play, which won the Kunio Kishida Drama Award (said to be the theatrical world's equivalent of the Akutagawa Prize), is the first one of his to be adapted to film.

Kudo originally wrote the suspense-comedy for acting trio Katsuhisa Namase, Narushi Ikeda, and Arata Furuta. The story revolves around the mystery behind a young writer named Dekogawa (Ikeda), who has been "killed" multiple times, but somehow keeps reappearing.

In the film version, for which Kudo adjusted the script, Tadanobu Asano stars in the role of Dekogawa. CM director Hideaki Hosono will be calling the shots, making his debut as a movie director. Shooting is scheduled to start on August 1, and theatrical release will be in 2009.