GKIDS has announced that it has acquired the rights to Mamoru Hosoda’s entire film catalog for the North American market. In a previous report by Variety, the films Summer Wars (2009) and Wolf Children (2013) will be included in the catalog immediately while The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) and The Boy and Monster (2015) will be added later this year. .
GKIDS president David Jesteadt told Variety that one of their early distribution projects was for the 2006 sci-fi film Summer Wars, and they noted how Hosoda solidified his position as a of the most “interesting” animation directors.
We are honored to deepen our relationship with the release of his two latest films, ‘Mirai’ and ‘Belle’, and are delighted to now be able to present the full Hosoda’s ambitious storytelling across his filmography includes some of the best films. Japanese anime are acclaimed and successful of all time.
Statement by GKIDS President David Jesteadt
It’s worth noting that the GKIDS-Mamoru Hosoda deal was made between Eric Beckman at GKIDS and Yohann Comte and Carole Baraton at Charades on behalf of Studio Chizu, the studio Hosada founded in 2011. According to GKIDS, the films will receive new theaters and home entertainment releases will highlight Hosoda’s unique artistry.
Before founding Studio Chizu in 2011 with Yuichiro Saito, Mamoru Hosada first worked with Toei Animation, directing titles such as the 1996 anime GeGeGe no Kitaro, as well as two short films Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure ( 1999) and Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! (2000). He was supposed to direct Studio Ghibli’s Howl’s Moving Castle in 2001 but eventually stepped down and let Hayao Miyazaki take over. He then returned to Toei but also left it in 2006 as a freelancer. During this time, Hosada directed the 2006 science fiction film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and then released her first original film, Summer Wars, in 2009.
Hosada’s first work produced by Studio Chizu was Wolf Children, followed by The Boy and the Beast, Mirai and Belle. The second film, which opened in July 2021, sold more than 1.69 million tickets in just 10 days after its premiere, earning more than 2.4 billion yen (~21.8 million USD). The film earned approximately US$64.7 million at the box office, making it Hosada’s biggest film globally.
Source: GKIDS Official X (Twitter), Press Release© 2023 GKIDS, INC.