The wait for Mamoru Hosoda’s next animated adventure may be coming to a close in Japan next month, but international audiences will have to wait until later this year to get the chance to see his new virtual fantasy, Belle. Thankfully, there’s a new gorgeous teaser to tide us over.
GKids has announced that it has acquired the U.S. distribution rights for Hosoda and Studio Chizu’s Belle with the intention of releasing subtitled and fully English-dubbed versions of the film in winter this year, qualifying it for the 2021 awards season. In Japan, the film is set to come out on July 16. Check out a new teaser below, which will just remind you that, oh dang, Hosoda—beloved for work like his most recent film, Mirai, but also Summer Wars and Wolf Children— helps make some beautiful movies:
Belle follows Suzu, a 17-year-old high schooler who longs to escape her life in rural Japan. She can only do so virtually by entering the world of U, an online world with billions of users across the internet. In U, Suzu masquerades as the titular Belle, a singing sensation that becomes a global star—and encounters a mysterious beast that sends her on an epic adventure for the duo to discover who they both really are. An adventure that seemingly puts them in a fight for their virtual lives against some mean-looking mooks who look like a cross between TRON programs and Kamen Rider baddies, that presumably Belle can’t really just sing her way past. Good thing she’s got a monster friend!
The film, which features character designs from Disney’s Jin Kim—who worked on Tangled, Frozen, Moana, and more—and Wolfwalker’s Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, as well as a score worked on by Death Stranding’s Ludvig Forssell, will release in the U.S. in late 2021.
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