Crunchyroll Scoops Global Rights To Makoto Shinkai’s Mysterious Next Feature

Crunchyroll has acquired worldwide distribution rights outside Asia, except for India, to the next feature from Your Name. and Suzume director Makoto Shinkai.

Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment will co-distribute the film. Its title, plot, and release date have not yet been announced.

Although few details are available, the early acquisition is hardly surprising given Shinkai’s status as one of animation’s most reliable international box office draws. His three most recent features, Your Name., Weathering With You, and Suzume, each attracted more than 10 million moviegoers in Japan, while also performing exceptionally well abroad.

Released in 2016, Your Name. turned Shinkai into a global phenomenon and became one of the highest-grossing Japanese films ever. His follow-up, Weathering With You, was selected as Japan’s submission for the Academy Award for best international feature.

Crunchyroll and Sony previously handled the international rollout of Shinkai’s most recent film, Suzume. The supernatural road movie earned more than $300 million worldwide, including enormous runs in China and South Korea. It also became the first Japanese animated feature in more than two decades to compete for the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival and later received a Golden Globe nomination.

Shinkai revealed in late 2024 that he was developing another original film, writing that he and his collaborators had spent the year creating a new world. He offered another brief update earlier this year, saying that the team was continuing to work on the project but providing no additional details.

The new film will be Shinkai’s first feature since Suzume opened in Japan in November 2022. No information has been provided about its Japanese distributor or whether longtime production partners CoMix Wave Films and Story Inc. are involved.