“Summer Wars” by Mamoru Hosoda

Above is the trailer for Summer Wars, one of the fifteen films that qualified yesterday for the 2010 Animated Feature category of the Academy Awards. Unlike most of the other films on the list, we’ve never written about it on the Brew so I thought it would be worthwhile to share some information about it. The film was directed by Mamoru Hosoda (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) and animated at Madhouse.

It was the 38th highest grossing feature during 2009 in Japan where it grossed $17.4 million. It’s been well reviewed (see Todd Brown’s review at TwitchFilm and Patrick Galbraith’s review at Otaku2). The film has screened at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival, was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, and has won the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year and the Sitges Film Festival’s Gertie Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

FUNimation, in association with GKids, is releasing the film theatrically in the US beginning next month. Here are the current theatrical dates:

Dec 3-8 Chicago,IL- Siskel Film Center
Dec 10-16 Los Angeles, CA — AMC Covina 30
Dec 24-30 San Francisco, CA- Landmark Bridge Theater
Dec 29-Jan 4 New York, NY- IFC Center
Jan 5-12 Boston, MA- Museum of Fine Arts
Jan 7-13 Denver, CO- Starz Film Center
Jan 7-13 Santa Fe, NM- CCA Cinematheque
Jan 14-20 Los Angeles, CA- Laemmle Sunset
Jan 21-27 Philadelphia, PA- Landmark Ritz at the Bourse
Jan 23-Feb 3 Honolulu, HI- Academy of Arts,
Jan 28-Feb 3 Seattle, WA- Landmark Varsity

(Thanks, Samuel Einhorn)