On December 23rd, it was revealed that director Mamoru Hosoda, known for his animated feature films "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time," "Summer Wars," and "The Dragon and the Freckled Princess," will be producing his first animated feature film in about four years, "Endless Scarlet," which will be released in winter 2025. On the same day, a production briefing was held at TOHO Cinemas Hibiya (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), where director Hosoda and Studio Chizu producer Yuichiro Saito spoke about the new film.
The new film will be written and written by Director Hosoda, and will be a time-traveling work about a princess from a certain country who travels through a harsh world. A teaser visual featuring the main character, Princess Scarlett, has been released.
Director Hosoda explained about the visual, "You may feel that it's a different style from my previous works, but on the right side (of the visual) there is an unrealistic world, like a red sea, and a woman is depicted who seems to see a ray of hope in this harsh world. This woman is Scarlett, from the title. Her skin is dirty and tattered, she is wearing a cloak on her back and has a sword at her waist. She is the protagonist of this work, and the picture shows her gazing out into the infinite distance with an intense gaze from a world of chaos."
She said that the main character is "a princess of a certain country who travels through a harsh world," and that she "goes on an adventure under difficult, tough, and not easy conditions. Therefore, the main character needs to be a sharp, upstanding woman." She said that she is challenging herself with new expressions for the new work, saying, "This visual is not an image board, but I am working hard on the premise that this picture will move as it is. As the way of looking at anime and literacy become more widespread, various new expressions are being used in the industry. I would like to create a new look and expression for 'Endless Scarlet' as well."
Regarding the story, he said, "There's a lot I can't say yet," and revealed, "It will tackle the biggest theme of my previous works. It will be a big theme that delves into life and death. I want to express in the film the universal feelings that everyone has." He also said that just as his previous work, "The Dragon and the Freckled Princess," was based on "Beauty and the Beast," the new work will be based on a classic, "A classic that everyone knows," he said.
As a new venture, the new film will be distributed worldwide by Toho and Sony Pictures. Toho will handle distribution in Japan, while Sony Pictures will handle distribution in other countries and regions of the world. Producer Saito described the new film as "a work that combines world-class skating with modernity," and said that when Director Hosoda proposed the project to him, "my first impression was that it would become a social phenomenon all over the world." He felt that "in order to deliver this work to the world, we needed a new system where Japan and the world could join hands, something that Japanese films have not done yet," and after various adjustments, worldwide distribution was realized.
