Mamoru Hosoda’s upcoming film Belle (Ryu to Sobakasu no Hime) will be getting the IMAX treatment in Japan, a first for a Mamoru Hosoda film. The film is set to hit Japanese theaters in just a couple of weeks on 16 July 2021.
Studio Chizu has shared the story as follows:
Our protagonist, Suzu, is a 17-year-old high school girl who lives in the countryside of Kochi Prefecture with her father, after losing her mother at a young age.
She loves singing with her mother more than anything else, but as a result of her mother’s death was no longer able to sing.
It wasn’t long before she and her father grew more and more distant from each other, and Suzu closed her heart to the rest of the world.
When Suzu felt that writing music was her only purpose left in life, she then discovers the massive online space known as ‘U’, where she takes on her persona, Belle.
Another me.
Another reality.
We are no longer limited to a single world.Suzu quickly realizes that when she is inside ‘U’ as her avatar, Belle, she can sing quite naturally. As she continues to showcase her own music in the virtual world, she fast becomes the rising star of ‘U’.
Nonetheless, that surprise is short-lived. Suddenly, a mysterious dragon-shaped creature appears before her…
Where the details surrounding the international release of the film are still fairly sparse, we do know that GKIDS is going to be offering the film in both English and Japanese with English subtitles for international territories this winter.
It will be interesting to see if the film gets a similar treatment in international regions, but I’m not holding my breath.