Nippon powerhouse Toho has thrown its weight behind “Ghost Cat Anzu” from directors Yoko Konno and Nobuhiro Yamashita, overseeing the Japanese release and marking the occasion with a brand new teaser.
As previously announced, specialty distributor Gkids has picked up the film for North America, while Charades continues to roll out international sales.
Bringing together Japan’s Shin-Ei Animation and France’s Miyu Productions, the family title traces the stormy friendship shared between 11-year-old Karin, a strong-minded girl sent to live with her monk grandfather in the Japanese countryside, and Anzo, the eldest son. The unpredictable, imaginary cat who acts as her guardian.
“Ghost Cat Enzo”
Toho
The anime title, adapted from Takashi Imashiro’s manga, will feature the voice talents of Mirai Moriyama as the ghost cat, and Noa Goto as his youngster. The project will hit Japanese screens in July, followed by its North American opening.
Director Nobuhiro Yamashita is known for his critically acclaimed features, and to direct several episodes of “Midnight Diner,” he shot with live actors and then transported them into an animated world overseen by rising talent Yoko Kono. The method was used to preserve the original charm of the characters.
Toho, a leading production and distribution company, had a banner year as the company’s Godzilla Minus One grossed more than $55 million in the United States and emerged as one of the highest-grossing foreign films in modern box office history. Toho’s distribution division also handled the domestic release of Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and The Heron,” which grossed more than $45 million at the North American box office for Gkids.
“Ghost Cat Enzo”
Toho