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GKIDS Details The Boy and the Heron Film's Home Video, Digital Release
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
GKIDS announced on Monday that it and Shout! Studios will release Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron anime film in a 4K UHD/Blu-ray Disc combo pack, a Blu-ray Disc/DVD combo pack, and a limited-edition Steelbook (with 4K UHD and Blu-ray Disc) release on July 9. GKIDS will also release the film for purchase on demand in HD and 4K on "all major" digital platforms on June 25. The film will be the first Studio Ghibli film released on 4K UHD.
Deadline had previously reported in March that the film would stream "exclusively" on Max (formerly HBO Max). GKIDS confirmed with ANN that the film will also be available for purchase on demand on all major digital platforms.
Special features on the release include feature-length storyboards, interviews (with composer Joe Hisaishi, Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki, and supervising animator Takeshi Honda), a music video for Kenshi Yonezu's theme song "Spinning Globe," trailers, and teasers.
The film won Best Animated Feature Film in the 96th Academy Awards ceremony on March 10. This is Miyazaki's second film to win after Spirited Away in 2003. The film has also won other major awards including Best Motion Picture - Animated at the 81st Golden Globes Awards and Animation of the Year in the 47th annual Japan Academy Film Prizes, among others.
The film opened in Japan in July 2023, and sold 1.003 million tickets and earned about US$13.2 million in its first three days in Japan.
The film ranked at #1 in its opening weekend in the U.S. box office, with an earning of US$12,836,313 in its first three days. Variety reported that the film is the "first original anime production" to top the U.S. box office.
The film will stream on Netflix globally outside of the U.S. and Japan.
Source: Press release
