It was announced that FUJI TV’s HERO drama starring SMAP’s Kimura Takuya will return as a movie after 8 years since the last HERO movie. To be released on July 18 next year, the movie will be directed again by Matsuyuki Suzuki and will include Kitagawa Keiko, the new heroine in HERO 2, Takako Matsu, the primary heroine in the first season and, Koichi Sato, in a role that will be in confilct with Kuryu Kohei (Kimura).

This time, Public Prosecutor Kuryuu Kohei investigates an incident involving an embassy of a certain country, which holds the key for resolve. However, the right to criminal investigation involving an embassy or a diplomat is challenged with the “the barrier of the extraterritorial rights.”

HERO became a hit in 2001, recording an average audience rating 34.3%. This was followed by an SP in 2006 and a movie in 2007. The second season aired July this year, 13 years after the first season and recorded an average audience rating 21.3%.

(via Sanspo)