Hiroshi Abe Lands In Hot Water In Thermae Romae

The top-grossing live action film in Japan so far this year has been Thermae Romae.

Directed by Hideki Takeuchi, the movie stars Hiroshi Abe as Lucius, an architect in ancient Rome who travels forwards in time to modern day Japan - to a bathhouse.

The cast includes Aya Ueto from Azumi and Masachika Ichimura as the Emperor Hadrian.

The story is adapted from the manga by Mari Yamazaki which has been licensed for an English translation by Yen Press. Amazon lists Volume 1 as due for a hardcover release in November.

The film will be playing at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

It has already received some press attention here in the UK - Phil Hoad wrote about it on the Guardian.co.uk.

Fingers crossed it will get picked up for either some UK film festivals or a DVD release over here.

Source: ANN