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Funimation to Release Shinkai's 'your name.' Film Theatrically (Updated)

Entertainment news magazine Variety reported on Wednesday that Funimation will release Makoto Shinkai's your name. (Kimi no Na wa.) anime film theatrically from December 2-8 at Los Angeles' Laemmle Music Hall, followed by a wider release in the first quarter of 2017. The report states that Funimation's 2016 theatrical release will be a qualifying run for the Academy Awards. A film has to run in a theater in Los Angeles County for a week to qualify for consideration in the awards.

Funimation has not yet released any information about any kind of distribution following the theatrical release.

The film's "story of miracles and love" revolves around Mitsuha and Taki. Mitsuha is a female high school student who lives in a rural town nestled deep in the mountains. Her father is the mayor and isn't at home much, and she lives with her elementary school-aged little sister and her grandmother. Mitsuha has an honest personality, but she doesn't like the customs of her family's Shinto shrine, nor does she like her father participating in an election campaign. She laments that she lives in a confined rural town, and yearns for the wonderful lifestyle of living in Tokyo.

Taki is a male high school student who lives in central Tokyo. He spends time with his friends, works part-time at an Italian restaurant, and is interested in architecture and fine arts. One day, Mitsuha has a dream where she is a young man. Taki also has a dream where he is a female high school student in a town in the mountains that he has never been to. What is the secret to their dreams of personal experience?

Funimation announced that it licensed the film in July. The film is slated to open in 85 countries and regions. The film held its world premiere on July 3 in Los Angeles during Anime Expo. The Busan International Film Festival in South Korea screened the film on October 9.

The film has earned earned 16.41 billion yen (about US$158 million) in Japan as of Monday, after 60 days in the Japanese box office. The film is now the fourth highest-grossing anime film in Japan, the fifth highest-grossing Japanese film in the country, and the ninth highest-grossing film of all time in Japan.

The film has surpassed the box office total of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo anime film (which earned 15.5 billion yen) and James Cameron's Avatar film (which earned 15.6 billion yen). The only anime films to earn more than your name. are Ghibli and Miyazaki's Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke. The film is now projected to possibly approach 20 billion yen (US$200 million).

Shinkai also wrote the script for the film. Masashi Ando (Spirited Away, When Marnie Was There, Paprika) served as the animation director and Masayoshi Tanaka (anohana, The Anthem of the Heart, Toradora!) designed the characters. CoMix Wave Inc. animated the film.

Source: Variety (Patrick Frater)

Update: Funimation clarified the dates and locations of its Oscar-qualifying run with Variety, and added information about a wider release. Funimation also clarified with Variety that it has not released information about distribution following the theatrical release.