Hayao Miyazaki To Open San Sebastian With ‘The Boy and the Heron’ – Deadline

Hayao Miyazaki will open the 71st edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival with his latest pic, The Boy and the Heron.

The film will screen out of competition at the festival’s Kursaal Auditorium on September 22, following the opening night gala.

This is the fourth time Miyazaki has played the Spanish festival, but it is the first time he will have participated in the Official Selection. He previously played the Velodrome section with Spirited Away and Gake no Ue no Ponyo / Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (2008) and in Perlak with The Wind Rises. Two other Ghibli films have been selected in the Perlak section: Kaguya-hime no Monogatari / The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013) by Isao Takahata and La tortue rouge / Red Turtle (2016) by Michael Dudok de Wit.

The Boy and the Heron will make its bow in Spain after opening the Toronto Film Festival on September 7. The film opened to record-breaking success in Japan earlier this year. ComScore reported a $13.2M opening weekend for the film, distributed by Toho, with IMAX saying it set a new three-day opening record with $1.7M from 44 screens. Reactions from Japan-based critics, none of which were offered advance screenings, are mixed but mostly favorable.

The hand-drawn, animated feature is director Miyazaki’s first feature film in 10 years. It features a musical score from Miyazaki’s long-time collaborator Joe Hisaishi. In a break with tradition, Studio Ghibli released the film in Japan without any promotion, marketing materials, or film description, allowing audiences to discover the film for themselves.

Gkids has acquired the film for North America and is expected to release it later this year.