Mamoru Hosoda’s new movie, BELLE, had its world premiere on July 15th, 2021 at the annual Cannes Film Festival, with the Japanese premiere on July 16th. As a thank you, a new visual, which celebrates the opening weekend, was revealed.
Over 600,000 viewers watched the movie during the first 3 days of showing in Japan. The official Twitter account for the studio shared the news, along with the visual on Twitter. The new visual shows the main character Suzu, standing side by side with her avatar Belle, while singing:
Mamoru Hosoda’s BELLE had its world premiere at Cannes Festival on July 15th. Mantan Web reports that the movie received a 14-minute standing ovation after the premiere. Mamoru Hosoda thanked the viewers for the support, even though he was not scheduled to give a speech. The movie will premiere in French theatres on December 29th, 2021
GKids licensed the movie for the North American market, while Anime Limited picked up the rights for UK release. BELLE will be available in the US this winter, in both subbed and dubbed versions. The full English title for the movie is Belle: The Dragon and the Freckled Princess.
About BELLE
Mamoru Hosoda’s Studio Chizu (Wolf Children, Mirai, The Boy and the Beast) animated BELLE. The story is an original work by Hosoda himself, while Jin Kim (Frozen) did CG character designs. Ryou Horibe and Youhei Shimozawa are serving as CG directors, with Nobutaka Ike (Perfect Blue) listed as art director. Ludvig Forssell (Death Stranding), Yuta Bandoh, and Taisei Iwasaki composed the music.
Suzu Naito is a 17-year-old girl who lives with her father in the countryside. Suzu loved singing with her mother, but after her mother died it became too painful. One day, her friend invites her to join “U”, an online virtual world where people can create avatars. Suzu registers and discovers that even though she can’t sing in real life, she is able to do as her avatar – Belle. Soon she becomes a popular singer and her concerts attract millions of fans. However, one day a mysterious dragon appears and crashes one of her concerts. Belle tries to get close to him and learn more about him, in order to save the world from chaos. But, self-righteous groups start hunting the dragon, both in “U” and in real life. As two worlds collide, will Belle be able to discover the dragon’s true identity and find her special someone?
Kaho Nakamura, a Japanese singer-songwriter, stars as the main character Suzu/Belle, while Ken Satou plays the dragon.
Watch the PV for Mamoru Hosoda’s BELLE below:
Source: Studio Chizu’s Official Twitter, Official Website, Mantan Web
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