Hiroyuki Nakano, who according to reports masterminded a Pachinko version of Seven Samurai last summer, is approaching the Kurosawa territory again with his next movie, Tajomaru.

According to Tokyograph, the film follows the adventures of Tajomaru, the rogue character from Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s short story “In A Grove” and most famously portrayed by Toshiro Mifune in Kurosawa’s Rashomon. Nakano’s film is, however, not an adaptation of the short story itself (or a remake of Rashomon), which I suppose means that we will be following the character’s rise to fame. Personally, I think that this sounds like an interesting idea to pursue.

I am no less in intrigued by the fact that Nakano, whose directorial credits include Samurai Fiction, is helming, while Tajomaru is played by Shun Oguri, a young and very popular actor whose previous credits include a character called “Akira” in Takashi Miike’s Sukiyaki Western Django (which is something of a statement on the whole Yojimbo – A Fistuful of Dollars – Django – Last Man Standing universe).

Other notable actors appearing in Tajomaru are Hiroki Matsukata, Yuki Shibamoto and Kenichi Hagiwara, the last of who also appeared in Kurosawa’s Kagemusha.

Filming has already started in November last year, with a fall 2009 release in mind. Let’s hope that this one’s a keeper!