GKids, the acclaimed producer and distributor of animation for adult and family audiences, announced on June 14th it has acquired all North American distribution rights for Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda‘s highly anticipated new animated feature, Belle, from Japan’s Studio Chizu. The film is an original story written and helmed by the celebrated director whose previous films include Mirai, The Boy and the Beast, Wolf Children, Summer Wars, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and others. Hosoda is joined by long time producing partner and Studio Chizu co-founder Yuichiro Saito, as producer on the title.
GKids handled North American distribution for Mirai, the previous film from Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu, which debuted at Director’s Fortnight in Cannes in 2018, before going on to receive career-first Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Hosoda.
GKids will release Belle theatrically in both its original Japanese language and a new English dubbed version this winter, and will qualify the film for 2021 awards consideration. Belle is scheduled to be released in theaters in Japan beginning July 16.
The all-rights North American distribution deal was negotiated by Eric Beckman of GKIDS and Carole Baraton of Charades, on behalf of Studio Chizu.
“I’ve been in love with Mamoru Hosoda since ‘Girl Who Leapt Through Time’, ‘Summer Wars’ and every film since. Hosoda is a master at exploring humans’ relationship with technology in a changing world,”
Eric Beckman, CEO and Founder of GKids
Eric Beckman continues, “Belle expands on the threads and themes of his previous works in an epic tour-de-force that is visually stunning, emotionally stirring, and deeply profound. We are thrilled to continue our relationship with Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu, and look forward to sharing what will surely be their most popular success to date.”
It will be curious to see if they will dub any of the songs, since those are an important part of the story. We will have to wait and see when they release a dubbed trailer. But for now, GKids has uploaded their first subbed trailer to their YouTube channel:
Source: GKids
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