Studio CHIZU, Nippon TV, and Sony Pictures have formed an exciting relationship to co-produce and co-finance “Scarlet,” the latest animated movie from the famous director Mamoru Hosoda. This is the first project Sony Pictures has worked on with the well-known Japanese animation studio.
“Scarlet” is a movie about a princess who travels through time and space. It is set to come out in the US in the winter of 2025. Sony Pictures will release the movie worldwide, and Toho will release it in Japan.
“Scarlet” was produced by a group of seasoned professionals, such as Yuichiro Saito, co-founder of Studio CHIZU, Toshimi Tanio from Nippon TV, and Nozomu Takahashi from Studio CHIZU. This project is a big step forward for Studio CHIZU, which Hosoda and Saito started in 2011 to try new ways to make animations.
Over more than 30 years, Mamoru Hosoda has had a successful animation career. His career began at Toei Animation in 1991. “Digimon Adventure” (1999) and “Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!” (2000) brought him a lot of attention. His big break was “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” (2006), which won the first Japan Academy Award for Best Animation and made him famous in the field.
Since starting Studio CHIZU, Hosoda has made several well-reviewed movies, such as “Mirai” (2018), “Wolf Children” (2012), and “The Boy and the Beast” (2015). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for the second one. His most recent movie, “Belle” (2021), premised at the Cannes Film Festival and earned $64.7 million worldwide, including $58 million in Japan alone. It was his highest-grossing movie.
Studio CHIZU has a strong history of making animated movies with unique stories and visuals, and the release of “Scarlet” is no exception. Since its start in April 2011, the studio has been dedicated to pushing the creative limits of animation while building a renowned collection of works known worldwide.
