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Takeru Kaido's medical mystery novel "Team Batista no Eikou" is finally being turned into a movie. The book won the grand prize of the "Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! Awards" in 2005, and its popularity resulted in roughly 25 movie studios and television networks fighting over adaptation rights. In the end, TBS won out, and is teaming with Toho to release a film on February 9 of next year.

The story revolves around a university hospital and a team of doctors specializing in the Batista procedure, an alternative to heart transplantation. The team has a 100% success rate until they perform three consecutive operations that result in the patient's death. An internal investigation begins to determine the reasons for the failures.

The protagonist of the novel is a male doctor in his forties, but TBS suggested replacing the character with a young female. As a result, Yuko Takeuchi now plays the lead as Taguchi, a doctor in charge of the investigation. She initially declares the incidents as accidental deaths, but an eccentric employee from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (played by Hiroshi Abe) suddenly appears and asserts that the deaths were actually murders. Together, the two continue to probe the matter.

Yoshihiro Nakamura is directing.

-tokyograph.com

Masato Fujisaki's popular manga series "Wild Life" is being turned into a television drama and a live-action movie, both starring young actor Hayato Ichihara.

The manga tells the story of a veterinarian named Tessho who uses his extraordinary hearing to save animals' lives. It began serialization in Shonen Sunday in 2003 and ended last month. In 2006, it won a Shogakukan Manga Award.

Movie distributor GAGA initially had plans for a film adaptation, and they teamed up with NHK to first create a television version. Filming took place at the end of last year and included locations in Thailand and China. Three episodes were originally planned, but the death of a giraffe led to the cancellation of one of them. The other two episodes, dealing with an elephant and a panda, will air on NHK's Hi-Vision satellite channel on March 24-25.

The movie starts shooting next year and is scheduled for theatrical release before the year ends. Africa and the North Pole are said to be possible locations for the film.

For the television drama, Ichihara's supporting cast includes Riisa Naka, Tetsuji Tamayama, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, and Akira Emoto.

-Tokyograph.com

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