Hosoda’s ‘Mirai’ Sells to GKids, Flurry of International Distributors

GKids has acquired U.S. rights to “Mirai of the Future,” the feature by Japanese animation maestro Mamoru Hosoda, which Charades is selling.

The tale centers on a 4-year-old boy who feels his place in his parent’s affections threatened by the arrival of a baby sister, Mirai. Then she reveals herself as a girl from the future.

Charades, the outfit launched a year ago by Yohann Comte, Carole Baraton, Pierre Mazars and Constantin Briest, has sold the movie to distributors in key territories, including Spain (A Contracorriente), the U.K. (Anime Limited), Italy (Dynit), Canada (MK2 Mile End), Germany (AV Visionen), Latin America (KEM), Turkey (Filma), Benelux (Cineart), CIS (Exponenta), Turkey (Filma), Lebanon and the Gulf region (Selim Ramia) and Australia/New Zealand (Madman). The company is currently in discussions to close France.

“Mirai of the Future” — like Hosoda’s previous animated films such as “Summer Wars,”“Wolf Children” and “The Boy and the Beast” — combines realistic settings with fantasy elements. The film is being produced by Studio Chizu, the outfit launched by Hosoda in 2011, and Nippon Television, among several other co-producers, and is expected to be delivered this spring. Toho will release “Mirai of the Future” in Japan on July 20.

“GKids is both thrilled and honored to be releasing the newest film from the great Mamoru Hosoda, a true master and one of the most exciting, iconic and humanist filmmakers working in animation,” said Eric Beckman, founder/CEO of GKids.

“(Hosoda’s) previous films, ‘The Girl Who Leapt Through Time,’ ‘Summer Wars,’ ‘Wolf Children’ and ‘The Boy and the Beast’ rank among my favorite animated films of all time and everyone at GKids is so excited to be working together with Studio Chizu and Charades on this project,” added Beckman.

The sale to GKids is a good omen for the film’s career in festivals and during awards season. Since 2010, GKids has scored 10 animated feature Oscar nominations, with “The Secret of Kells,” “A Cat in Paris,” “Chico & Rita,” “Ernest & Celestine,” “The Tale of The Princess Kaguya,” “Song of the Sea,” “Boy and the World,” “When Marnie Was There,” “My Life as a Zucchini” and “The Breadwinner.” GKids also handles the library of films from Studio Ghibli.

“Hosoda’s signature and talent have become so respected that distributors commit today at script stage the same way they would do with any major international auteur,” said Comte, adding that Charades was “delighted to have such a strong network of dedicated distributors so early in the life of the film.”

Hosoda’s last film, “The Boy and the Beast,” earned $49 million in 2015 at the Japanese box office and the film racked up a large haul of international sales.