Experience Spirited Away in All of Its Magical Beauty on the Big Screen This Christmas on Boxing Day Re-release
London, 10 December 2024 – Elysian Film Group and Anonymous Content are thrilled to unveil the official trailer and poster for the highly anticipated UK and ROI re-release of Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award®-winning animated masterpiece, SPIRITED AWAY. Longtime fans and new viewers of Studio Ghibli alike can experience the fantastical film on the big screen once again on 26th December 2024.
The Standard call it “Awe-inspiring”, and Financial Times wanted to award it “Six stars out of five” for a treasure that lives and breathes on the big screen. To experience SPIRITED AWAY back in the cinema since its 2003 release means all audiences will once again get to have that “magical experience” (Empire).
Winner of the Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature, SPIRITED AWAY is a “must see masterpiece” (Digital Spy) that follows Chihiro trapped in a fantastical world full of spirits and demons and continues to be celebrated as “the great treasure of 21st-century animation” (Financial Times).
With its “Mind-bogglingly superb animation” (The Guardian), SPIRITED AWAY is considered by many critics as one of the greatest films of all time. The Evening Standard called the film “vivid, amusing, and genuinely awe-inspiring,” with Dazed describing it as “pure pleasure” and “a total joy.
Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, the legendary Academy Award®-winning filmmaker, SPIRITED AWAY’s UK and Ireland cinema re-release follows the successful summer theatrical re-release of his family favourite MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO, and the incredible success of Miyazaki’s 2024 hit, the Academy Award®-winning THE BOY AND THE HERON. THE BOY AND THE HERON premiered in the UK and ROI Boxing Day last year and went on to become the highest-grossing Studio Ghibli release in UK history, and recently soared in the UK Home Entertainment chart.
SPIRITED AWAY OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:
Chihiro’s family is moving to a new house, but when they stop on the way to explore an abandoned village, her parents undergo a mysterious transformation and Chihiro is whisked into a world of fantastic spirits ruled over by the sorceress Yubaba. Put to work in a magical bathhouse for spirits and demons, Chihiro must use all her wits to survive in this strange new place, find a way to free her parents and return to the normal world. Overflowing with imaginative creatures and thrilling storytelling, Spirited Away became a worldwide smash hit, and is one of the most critically-acclaimed films of all time.
ABOUT STUDIO GHIBLI
Studio Ghibli is one of the most acclaimed and influential animation studios in the world, inspiring filmmakers and audiences alike over the last 30 years with beloved stories and breathtaking visuals. Under the brilliance of visionary animation directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and producer Toshio Suzuki, the studio’s films are known for timeless classics such as My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Ponyo; and have won countless international awards including an Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature for Spirited Away and The Boy and the Heron, as well as five additional Oscar® nominations for Howl’s Moving Castle, The Wind Rises, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, When Marnie Was There, and The Red Turtle. Director and studio co-founder Hayao Miyazaki was separately given an Honorary Award at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Awards in 2014, and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures paid tribute to his artwork with a special exhibit when the Museum opened in September 2021. Studio Ghibli became the first ever group-recipient of the Honorary Palme d’or of the Cannes Film Festival in May 2024.
ABOUT ELYSIAN FILM GROUP
Industry veteran Danny Perkins founded Elysian Film Group in 2018. In early 2020, the company launched Elysian Film Group Distribution, a brand-new UK distribution arm, with backing from CAA. The company Produced and Distributed the Take That Musical Greatest Days, directed by Coky Giedroyc and written by Tim Firth. Elysian also recently distributed The Boy and the Heron by Hayao Miyazaki in partnership with Bleecker Street and Anonymous Content. The film has grossed over £5m at the UK box office to date and won the Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature. Perkins has over two decades of experience in the international film business, spanning all aspects of the industry including development, production, acquisition, marketing and distribution. He co-founded UK indie Optimum Releasing in 1999, which was acquired by the Vivendi-owned STUDIOCANAL in 2006. He then assumed the role of UK CEO for the company in 2010 and departed in 2018 to form Elysian Film Group. He has worked with both aspiring and established filmmakers throughout his career including Ben Wheatley, Idris Elba, Rian Johnson, Paul King, Paddy Considine, James Marsh, Guillermo del Toro, Kathryn Bigelow, Marjane Satrapi, Shane Meadows, Lynne Ramsey and Chris Morris.
ABOUT ANONYMOUS CONTENT
Anonymous Content is a global media company that produces multi-platform premium content and boasts an exceptional client roster which includes many of the world’s most renowned and innovative directors, writers, and actors. The company’s award-winning Film & TV division encompasses many commercially successful and critically acclaimed works including three-time Academy Award winning film THE REVENANT, Best Picture Academy Award winning film SPOTLIGHT, Academy Award winning film for Best Original Screenplay, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, and three-time Primetime Emmy award-winning Mr. Robot. On the film side, they are behind the recently released features FOE, starring Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal and Aaron Pierre, and THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER starring Daisy Ridley, and the highly anticipated upcoming adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, THE NICKEL BOYS. On the series side, they recently released season four of True Detective starring Jodie Foster, and are behind the upcoming Time Bandits from Taika Waititi, Disclaimer from Alfonso Cuarón starring Cate Blanchett, limited series East of Eden starring Florence Pugh with Zoe Kazan set to adapt, and Savant starring Jessica Chastain. The company also has a robust documentary division, boasting a burgeoning slate of premium features including Alex Gibney’s Elon Musk documentary MUSK, 5 SEASONS OF REVOLUTION, Raoul Peck’s ORWELL, and IN RESTLESS DREAMS: THE MUSIC OF PAUL SIMON. Through its Commercial work, Anonymous Content is also the driving creative force behind countless leading global brands. As part of Anonymous Content’s continued global expansion, the company has established multiple joint ventures with international partners including Anonymous Content España, Anonymous Federation, Anonymous Content Nordic, Anonymous Content Brazil, and AC Chapter One. For more information, visit www.anonymouscontent.com.
