GKIDS has announced the English voice cast for acclaimed Oscar-winning filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki‘s new feature, The Boy and the Heron.
The English-language dubbed version of the film will feature the voices of Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Gemma Chan, Willem Dafoe, Karen Fukuhara, Mark Hamill, Robert Pattinson, and Florence Pugh.
Luca Padovan joins the cast as Mahito Maki, and Mamoudou Athie, Tony Revolori, and Dan Stevens are featured as the Parakeets.
GKIDS handled casting and produced the English version in close consultation with Studio Ghibli, with ADR direction by Michael Sinterniklaas at NYAV Post, and English script adaptation by Stephanie Sheh. The English language dub was produced in accordance with the SAG-AFTRA Foreign Dubbing Agreement.
GKIDS will bring The Boy and the Heron to cinemas nationwide on December 8, 2023 in both the original Japanese and English language versions.
The latest feature from Japan’s celebrated animation house, Studio Ghibli, begins special preview engagements on November 22 before expanding to cinemas nationwide and in Canada on December 8, 2023.
The hand-drawn, animated feature — director Miyazaki’s first feature film in 10 years — is an original story written and directed by Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, produced by Academy Award nominee and co-founder Toshio Suzuki, and featuring a musical score from Miyazaki’s long-time collaborator Joe Hisaishi.
Its theme song, “Spinning Globe,” was written and performed by global J-pop superstar Kenshi Yonezu.
The Boy and the Heron made its international premiere as Opening Night Gala of the 48th Toronto International Film Festival on September 7. Tickets to all five TIFF screenings sold out in record time, and the film received glowing reviews and placed top three for the TIFF People’s Choice Awards.
The film made its U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival, its European Premiere as the Opening Night of San Sebastian International Film Festival, and made its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival.
The Boy and the Heron will be presented in IMAX at LA’s Chinese Theater on October 18 as Opening Night of the Animation is Film Festival.
GKIDS has a long-standing partnership with Studio Ghibli and handles North American distribution for the studio’s famed library of films across all theatrical, home video, digital, and streaming platforms.
The company has released Studio Ghibli’s most recent films in theaters nationwide, including the Academy Award-nominated The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, the Academy Award-nominated When Marnie Was There, From Up on Poppy Hill and more.
Since 2017, GKIDS has produced the annual Ghibli Fest, a monthly nationwide theatrical program of Studio Ghibli film screenings in over 800 theaters across the country. The series continues this year with a focus on the films of Hayao Miyazaki.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.