Zatoichi 2 - Confirmed!

"As the story goes, when Kitano agreed to make "Zatoichi", he also agreed to make a sequel, if the first film would become a huge succes. Not only did "Zatoichi" become a huge succes, it became the biggest succes in Kitanos career as a director. Kitano didn't talk about it, as he hadn't decided when to make it. After all, he had only promised to make it, but not when, and he had already decided to dedicate 2004 to acting. But in August 2004, the contracts were signed and about the same time, Kitano dyed his hair blond again.

There are no details on the actual shooting, neither when nor where, on cast or on story. A possible premiere date would be during Venice 2005, but nothing is decided yet."

Beat Takeshi Kitano directs and plays the title role in this tribute to the wildly popular "blind swordsman" of Japanese cinema who was the hero of more than 20 movies and a television series from the early '60s to the late '80s. In Kitano's version, Zatôichi wanders into a town harassed by criminal gangs, and helps two geishas take revenge on the men who murdered their parents. His mission leads him to a final, bloody confrontation with the gang's mastermind and his hired assassin (Tadanobu Asano), a swordsman with a reputation as lethal as Zatôichi.

Source:  Takeshi Kitano Official Site