THE BREATHLESSLY-AWAITED NEW FEATURE FROM MAKOTO SHINKAI, DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL BOX OFFICE PHENOMENON YOUR NAME, (THE HIGHEST GROSSING JAPANESE ANIMATED FILM OF ALL TIME)
NEW YORK (May 23, 2019) – GKIDS, the acclaimed producer and distributor of animation for adult and family audiences, announced it has acquired North American distribution rights for the animated feature WEATHERING WITH YOU, the new film from director Makoto Shinkai and producer Genki Kawamura, whose previous film Your Name set box office records in Japan and around the world ($360 million worldwide box office), and is currently receiving a major studio live-action remake from JJ Abrams.
GKIDS has set an awards qualifying run for 2019 with a theatrical release in early 2020 in both the original Japanese and a new English language version.
The all-rights deal finalized out of this year’s Cannes Film Festival was negotiated by GKIDS’ CEO Eric Beckman and Akihiro Takeda for Toho. The film opens in Japanese cinemas on July 19. Rights are sold worldwide by Toho.
“GKIDS is thrilled to be working with Makoto Shinkai and Genki Kawamura on Weathering With You, following their blockbuster hit Your Name,” said GKIDS founder and CEO Eric Beckman. “We have been huge fans of Makoto Shinkai since his breathtaking 5 Centimeters Per Second, and he is unquestionably one of the top animation filmmakers working today. Weathering With You combines Shinkai’s unparalleled visually beautiful and detailed animation with a riveting emotional story that will be sure to connect with audiences worldwide.”
SYNOPSIS
GKIDS proudly presents the highly-anticipated new film from director Makoto Shinkai and producer Genki Kawamura, the creative team behind the critically-acclaimed, global smash hit Your Name. The summer of his high school freshman year, Hodaka runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo, and quickly finds himself pushed to his financial and personal limits. The weather is unusually gloomy and rainy every day, as if to suggest his future. He lives his days in isolation, but finally finds work as a writer for a mysterious occult magazine. Then one day, Hodaka meets Hina on a busy street corner. This bright and strong-willed girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky…
WeatheringWithYouMovie.com