The TV Asahi drama series "Koshonin" is coming back as a theatrical film, it was announced on Wednesday. Starring Ryoko Yonekura (33) as a police negotiator, the original show aired in early 2008 and returned for a single-episode special this past February that achieved 17.1% ratings.

Yonekura will reprise her role as the negotiator Reiko Usagi. This time will be her most challenging case yet, taking place at 10,000 meters above ground, as she happens to be on a hijacked passenger plane without her colleagues.

The movie will feature the same main cast members as the drama, plus some big guests. Director Hidetomo Matsuda will reportedly shoot the movie with a 100 million yen budget. In addition to "Koshonin," Matsuda previously worked with Yonekura on three adaptations of Seicho Matsumoto novels: "Kurokawa no Techou," "Kemonomichi," and "Warui Yatsura."

For Yonekura, this will be just her third starring role in a movie during her ten-year acting career, with the last one being "Gun Crazy: A Woman from Nowhere" in 2002. Like the "Koshonin" television series, Yonekura plans to do the action scenes in this new movie without a stunt double.

Filming begins next month, with release scheduled for February 2010. The tentative title is "Koshonin: The Movie."