News
Cinedigm, GKids to Release A Letter to Momo Film on Home Video
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Distribution companies GKIDS and Cinedigm announced on Thursday that the two are teaming up to launch a new multi-platform animation label. With the partnership, GKIDS will continue to distribute films theatrically, and Cinedigm will handle "ancillary distribution" under the GKIDS brand. The two companies announced they will be releasing seven new GKIDS titles on home video under the new partnership, including Hiroyuki Okiura and Production I.G's A Letter to Momo film and Goro Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's From Up On Poppy Hill film.
GKIDS also confirmed with ANN that it will still be releasing A Letter to Momo in theaters in North America. GKIDS had originally planned to release the film in North American theaters last year, but delayed the screenings until this year to qualify for the Academy Awards that will be held in early 2014.
A Letter to Momo follows a girl named Momo who struggles with her father's sudden passing and her move to the countryside. Momo finds an otherworldly surprise at her new home. okiura spent seven years planning, writing, storyboarding, and directing the film; it is his first return to the proverbial director's chair since Jin-Roh in 2000. The film originally had its world premiere in Canada in 2011 before opening in Japan in 2012.
GKIDS and Cinedigm will be releasing From Up On Poppy Hill on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and cable video-on-demand on September 3 after GKIDS' current theatrical release is over. The home video release will include both the Japanese and English language audio tracks, and will feature more than three hours of bonus materials including: feature-length storyboards, an interview with Goro Miyazaki, the Japanese trailer and TV spots, the music video for Aoi Teshima's theme song, a featurette about Yokohama where the film takes place, and a celebrity cast recording featurette with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews. Additionally, the Blu-ray Disc will include a staff speech and press conference by Hayao Miyazaki days after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, and a 20-page booklet featuring Hayao Miyazaki's original project proposal and a letter from Goro Miyazaki.
Thanks to ravegrl for the news tip.
