The third and last session of the "Tenipuri Festa 2016 ~Kassen~" event ended on Sunday with an announcement that a theatrical film project has launched in the Prince of Tennis franchise. The original manga's creator (and self-described "happy media creator who sometimes draws manga") Takeshi Konomi personally made the announcement, and he is serving as executive producer on the new anime film project.

The new anime will depict previously untold stories in the three months between the stories of the first Prince of Tennis manga and Shin Tennis no Ōji-sama (The New Prince of Tennis or The Prince of Tennis II) manga. It will cover story material that was not in either manga series.

The staff has not announced the release date of the new project. Konomi said, "I think it's going to be great. It will 'double-cross' (in a good way) your expectations, so please look forward to it."

Takeshi Konomi serialized The Prince of Tennis manga's original run in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from 1999 to 2008. The manga followed middle school tennis player Ryōma Echizen as he battles rivals to reach the national tournament. That original manga already inspired a 2001-2005 television anime, two anime feature films and a theatrical short, various video anime projects, a live-action film, a live-action television series in China, and a popular stage musical series.

Konomi then launched The Prince of Tennis II manga series in Jump Square magazine in 2009. The story picks up after the national tournament, when Ryōma joins a select group of middle school players at Japan's top training camp for players under 17. This ongoing sequel manga spawned its own 2012 television anime series. The Prince of Tennis II OVA vs. Genius 10 series then ran for five volumes from October 2014 to June 2015.

The Hōkago no Ōjisama four-panel tribute manga by Ken'ichi Sakura launched in Jump Square in 2008. It inspired a Flash anime that was included with The Prince of Tennis II OVA vs. Genius 10 home video releases. Shueisha published the third compiled volume of this spinoff manga in 2013.

Viz Media published the 42nd and final volume of Konomi's original Prince of Tennis manga run in North America in 2011. Crunchyroll streamed The Prince of Tennis II television anime into several countries as it aired in Japan, and it then streamed the spinoff original video anime projects.

Sources: Cinema Today, Comic Natalie via Hachima Kikō