GKIDS Acquires License for N. American Distribution of Makoto Shinkai’s “Weathering With You”

American distributor GKIDS has announced in a press release Thursday that they have acquired the North American rights to blockbuster director Makoto Shinkai’s newest anime movie Weathering With You (“Tenki no Ko”). The company has planned an awards-qualifying run for the film this 2019, with the theatrical release set for a yet-unspecified date in 2020.

The New York-based company has held distributions rights to 11 Best Animated Feature Oscar nominees, something which they appear to be aiming for in Shinkai’s newest work—hence the awards-qualifying run. GKIDS also holds the North American license for the entire film library of Studio Ghibli.

Makoto Shinkai is best known for his worldwide blockbuster hit Your Name (“Kimi no Na Wa”), which broke box office records in Japan and earned a whopping $358 million worldwide. His newest film, Weathering With You, sees him returning to the directorial chair as well as other staff who have worked with him in his blockbuster hit. Masayoshi Tanaka, who worked with Shinkai in Kimi no Na Wa, will be handling character design. Art design will be handled by Hiroshi Takiguchi, who worked on Shinkai’s 2013 film Kotonoha no Niwa (“Garden of Words”). Tenki no Ko will be produced by STORY, Inc. and will be distributed by TOHO. The original story and scripts were all done by Shinkai himself.

Japanese rock band RADWIMPS, who worked previously with Shinkai in composing and performing the ethereal soundtrack of his blockbuster hit Kimi no Na Wa, will be collaborating with the director once more with his latest movie’s theme song, Ai ni Dekiru Koto wa Mada Aru Kai.

Anime News Network describes the movie’s story as such:

”In the film’s story, high school student Hodaka leaves his home on an isolated island and moves to Tokyo, but he immediately becomes broke. He lives his days in isolation, but finally finds a job as a writer for a shady occult magazine. After he starts his job, the weather has been rainy day after day. In a corner of the crowded and busy city, Hodaka meets a young woman named Hina. Due to certain circumstances, Hina and her younger brother live together, but have a cheerful and sturdy life. Hina also has a certain power: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky.”

The lead characters Hodaka Morishima and Hina Amano will be voiced by Kotaro Daigo and Nana Mori, respectively.

Tenki no Ko: Weathering With You is set for a July 19 release in Japan.

Source: Variety