Toho unveils impressive theatrical trailer for their "Zero Focus" remake

by Chris MaGee

It's not just the 100th anniversary of the birth of Akira Kurosawa that is being celebrated by Japanese filmmakers and film lovers recently. 2009 marks the centenary of the birth of Japan's best known mystery author Seicho Matsumoto. To honour this occasion the folks at Toho have been working on a remake of Yoshitaro Nomura's 1961 screen adaptation of Matsumoto's novel "Zero Focus". As I'm a big, BIG fan of Nomura's original film I've been following news of this remake with a mix of curiosity and dread for the past eight months (read our full coverage here).

Now with the November 14th theatrical release of Isshin Inudo's 2009 version of "Zero Focus" right around the corner Toho has finally released a full theatrical trailer for the film and Kevin Ouellette at Nippon Cinema has got it. I do have to say that watching Ryoko Hirosue (above center), Miki Nakatani (right), and Tae Kimura (left) in the roles made famous by Yoshiko Kuga, Ineko Arima, and Hizuru Takachiho takes a bit of getting used to for a die hard fan of Nomura's original, but the chance to see Kimura, who knocked me on my ass with her performance in last year's "All Around Us", along with Hidetoshi Nishijima and Takeshi Kaga has me very intrigued to finally get a look at this "Zero Focus" Version 2.0.

Check out the full theatrical trailer at Nippon Cinema, and then head over to the official site for "Zero Focus" for some lovely portrait shots of its stars.