Dec 16 (NHK) - Acclaimed Japanese animation film director Shinkai Makoto, who made the 2016 global hit "your name.," says he is working on a new movie to be released in fall next year at movie theaters across Japan.
Shinkai said in Tokyo on Wednesday that the upcoming film will be titled "Suzume no Tojimari" in Japanese. Suzume is the name of the 17-year-old protagonist girl in the movie and tojimari literally means closing doors. The official English title will be announced later.
Shinkai said the film will depict the liberation and growth of Suzume. He said the girl sets out on a journey to ruins across Japan to close mysterious doors through which curses come out.
Shinkai's past works include "your name." and the 2019 film "Weathering With You." Both grossed more than 10 billion yen, or over 88 million dollars, each in box-office revenue in Japan alone.
Shinkai explained he has been engaged in the new production while exploring what to do in an age when fewer and fewer people can be seen due to the shrinking population and the coronavirus pandemic.
The director said he believes audiences want to see a story that ponders each scattered possibility and "closes" them properly to eventually find a genuinely new place.
Shinkai said he thinks movie theaters are where people can perform their special abilities, such as sympathizing with movie characters and immersing themselves in stories. He added he will turn the new film into one that will inspire people to watch it in theaters.
