Crunchyroll has acquired the worldwide distribution rights to Makoto Shinkai‘s next feature film. The distribution will exclude Asia, except for India.
Plot details, along with the title and release date for Shinkai’s next film, are not being disclosed at this time.
Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures previously partnered on the global distribution of Shinkai’s Suzume (2023), which grossed over $300 million worldwide and received critical acclaim, including a Golden Globe nomination.
Shinkai’s other films include Your Name (2016) and Weathering With You (2019). Your Name was a success, becoming one of the highest-grossing anime films of all time, while Weathering With You became Japan’s official submission for the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film.
The filmmaker was born in Nagano Prefecture in 1973. In 2002, Shinkai’s self-produced short film Voices of a Distant Star won several awards. Two years later, Shinkai’s first full-length movie, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, premiered and went on to win the Best Animated Film at the 59th Mainichi Film Concours.
Shinkai’s other animated films include 5 Centimeters per Second (2007), Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011), and The Garden of Words (2013).
Suzume is Shinkai’s most recent film, which went on to win Best Film at the 8th Annual Crunchyroll Anime Awards. The film follows Suzume Iwato, a 17-year-old high school girl who meets a mysterious young man, Souta, who closes doors to the Ever-After before disasters can be released upon Japan. Her actions unintentionally turn Souta into a three-legged chair by the mischievous cat Daijin, sending Suzume on a journey to rescue Souta and prevent further disasters.
