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Mamoru Hosoda's Belle Film Unveils Insert Song Music Video
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
TOHO began streaming a music video for Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu's new BELLE (Ryū to Sobakasu no Hime, literally "The Dragon and the Freckled Princess") anime film on Friday, featuring the film's insert song "Kokoro no Soba ni" (Beside the Heart). Singer-songwriter Kaho Nakamura, who plays the titular character Belle in the film, performed the song.
BELLE opened in Japan on July 16 and ranked at #1 in the Japanese box office. The film sold more than 600,000 tickets for more than 891,663,200 yen (about US$8.14 million) in its first three days. It sold more than 459,000 tickets for 679,995,700 yen (about US$6.20 million) on Saturday and Sunday alone. Its opening was bigger than that of Hosoda's highest-earning film, The Boy and The Beast which eventually ended its run with 5.85 billion yen (about US$53 million).
The film has IMAX screenings in 38 theaters throughout Japan. This makes BELLE the first of Hosoda's films to have IMAX screenings. France's Cannes Film Festival first screened the film in the festival's Cannes Premiere section last on July 15. It marked the first Official Selection at the festival for Hosoda. (The director's previous Mirai film screened at the Directors' Fortnight, an independent section held in parallel to the festival, in 2018.)
GKIDS licensed the film for North America, and will release the film in English and in Japanese with English subtitles this winter.
Hosoda (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars,The Boy and The Beast, Mirai) directed and scripted the film, and is also credited for the original work. The film marks Studio Chizu's 10th anniversary. Taisei Iwasaki (Blood Blockade Battlefront, Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan, The Naked Director) is the film's music director and composer.
Eric Wong, a London-based architect and designer, created the concept artwork for the film's online world of U. Jin Kim (Frozen, Tangled, Big Hero 6, Moana) designed the titular protagonist Belle.
Sources: TOHO's YouTube channel, Animate Times
