GKIDS has announced the acquisition of North American theatrical rights to Mamoru Oshii's 2004 animated film Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. The film's new 4K restoration will premiere at the Chicago Critics' Film Festival, then will be released nationwide this Summer 2024 to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence was first released in Japan on March 6, 2004 and is a sequel to Oshii's 1985 film Ghost in the Shell. It was previously released in North America by Dreamworks Pictures, Bandai Entertainment and Funimation.
© 2004 SHIROW MASAMUNE/KODANSHA · IG, ITNDDTD
Oshii served as director, writer, and screenwriter on Innocence, with Hiroyuki Okiura (A Letter to Momo) as character designer, Shuichi Hirata (Psycho Pass) as art director, and Kenji Kawai (The Fire Hunter) as composer. Production IG is responsible for producing the animation.
The Ghost in the Shell franchise began with Masamune Shirow's 1989 manga of the same name and has inspired several manga sequels, anime films and television series, a live-action adaptation in 2017 and video games.
GKIDS describes the film's synopsis as follows:
In the year 2032, the line between humans and machines has been blurred to the point of being almost indistinguishable. A string of murders committed by a prototype android model has attracted the attention of Police Division 9, a unit specializing in countering cyberterrorism. Since no victim's family has pressed charges, suspicions arise regarding the nature of the robots and the company that manufactured them. During the investigation, almost entirely cyber-based agent Batou and his still-human partner Togusa embark on a journey through a technological dystopia, confronting Yakuza thugs ferocious hackers, government officials and corporate criminals to uncover shocking truths. the truth behind the crime.
Source: GKIDS official TwitterOfficial website