Studio Ghibli has released Hayao Miyazaki’s final film How Do You Live. The film premiered on Friday, July 14, in Japanese theaters, BBC reports.
The film will soon be available in the United States. According to Variety, animation company and distributor Gkids has acquired North American rights to the final film. But in North America, Gkids will release the film under the title “The Boy and the Heron.”
Miyazaki is one of Japan’s most influential filmmakers. According to BBC, three of his films (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle) rank in Japan’s 10 highest-grossing films. Spirited Away won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.
How Do You Live was originally slated to debut ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, The Ringer reports. But Miyazaki decided not to adhere to a strict deadline.
The filmmaker also decided not to do any traditional promotion for the film. According to Variety, no images, trailers, synopses, advertisements, or other information were made available to the public.
“Deep down, I think this is what moviegoers latently desire,” Miyazaki said of the decision in an interview with the Japanese magazine Bungei Shunju, according to The Ringer.
It is unclear when the exact date of the film’s North American release will be.
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