Anime streaming giant Crunchyroll has acquired worldwide distribution and marketing rights (outside Asia) for the upcoming animated film by award-winning Japanese director Makoto Shinkai Suzume No Tojimari.
Adult story marks Shinkai’s sixth animated film after international hits Your name (2016) and Weathering With You (2019).
The film is produced by CoMix Wave Films, the Tokyo animation studio behind many of Shinkai’s works, and Story Inc., which took the titles Weather with you.
The agreement between Crunchyroll and the Japanese studio Toho, which manages the world rights, was mediated by the French sales company Wild Bunch International (WBI).
Under its terms, Crunchyroll will work with Sony Pictures and the WBI to distribute the title worldwide. Crunchyroll will distribute the film in North America, while Sony Pictures and WBI will co-distribute it in Europe. Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures will handle all other areas outside of Asia
Toho will release the production in Japan on November 11, 2022 and then distribute it to all other major regions from early 2023 onwards.
“With humility and honor, CoMix Wave Films, Makoto Shinkai and Toho have decided to work with Crunchyroll on the next masterpiece,” said Rahul Purini, President of Crunchyroll, LLC.
“It’s also an incredible opportunity to partner with Sony Pictures Entertainment and Wild Bunch International to co-distribute this film across a wide range of locations. We know that both cartoon lovers and the general public will fall in love with this prestigious film.
Suzume No Tojimari revolves around a 17-year-old protagonist and takes place in various locations affected by the disaster throughout Japan. Her journey begins in a quiet city on the southwestern island of Kyushu, Japan, where she inadvertently opens a single obsolete door that stands between ruins, setting in motion a catastrophic chain of events that only she can end.
Shinkai 2016 includes romantic fantasy drama Your name was a huge success at home, winning the second largest contribution to a local film after Hayao Miyazaki’s film Spirited Away and enjoying a high-profile international career with revenues of more than $ 300 million worldwide.
The continuation of 2019 Weathering With You it has also had commercial success at home and abroad. It was then selected as Japan’s nominee for Best International Feature Film at the 2020 Oscars and was nominated in four categories at the 47th Annual Annual Awards, including Best Independent Animated Feature.
WBI has a long and successful run in collaboration with Japanese animation, having previously handled international sales at Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away and all of his subsequent films, and more recently, Earwig and the witchthe third solo feature of Miyazaki’s son, Gorô Miyazaki.
“We consider Makoto Shinkai an important artist with whom we have wanted to work for a long time. “He is a talented director who we welcome into our family of top filmmakers and we are proud to be able to bring his vision to the world of cinema around the world,” said WBI President Vincent Maraval.
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