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Makoto Shinkai Wants to Make Next Work About Teens in 3 Years

Director Makoto Shinkai said during the 21st Busan International Film Festival on Sunday that he would like to make his next work at TOHO within three years. He commented that, like his most recent movie your name., his next work will probably be about young boys and girls in adolescence.

In addition, he offered a comment on remarks by critics and fans that he is a "post-Hayao Miyazaki" director, saying that it is an "overestimation." He added that "Miyazaki's movies have a worth and power as a single brand. I will just continue to make movies that a lot of people can enjoy."

His your name. film screened at the Busan International Film Festival on the same day, and lead actors Mone Kamishiraishi and Ryunosuke Kamiki were also in attendance.

The film has earned 13.8 billion yen (about US$134 million) and sold 10.61 million tickets in 44 days as of October 8.

The film will reveal the fourth new visual in various morning newspapers on October 14. The new visual will appear in the Asahi Shimbun in Tokyo, the Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun in Osaka, the Chunichi Shimbun in Aichi, the Nishinippon Shimbun in Fukuoka, and the Hokkaido Shimbun in Hokkaido.

At the Japanese box office, your name. is now the fifth highest-grossing anime film (after Ponyo's 15.50 billion yen or US$152.9 million), the 6th highest-grossing Japanese film, and 15th highest-grossing Japanese or overseas film overall. The film surpassed the 2013 Japanese box office total of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's The Wind Rises (12.02 billion yen or US$118.6 million). In addition, your name. has now earned more in Japan than Jurassic Park and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The only anime films to earn more than your name. are Ghibli and Miyazaki's Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, and Ponyo.

Shinkai's latest is already 2016's highest-grossing film in Japan. The film reached 10 billion yen faster than Disney's Frozen, which closed in Japan after earning 25.4 billion yen in the box office to become Japan's #3 highest-grossing film of all time after Spirited Away and Titanic. Frozen reached 10 billion yen in 37 days while your name. reached the same milestone in 28 days.

The film held its world premiere on July 3 in Los Angeles during Anime Expo, and it is slated to open in 85 countries and regions.

The film's "story of miracles and love" revolves around Mitsuha and Taki. Mitsuha is a female high school student who lives in a rural town nestled deep in the mountains. Her father is the mayor and isn't at home much, and she lives with her elementary school-aged little sister and her grandmother. Mitsuha has an honest personality, but she doesn't like the customs of her family's Shinto shrine, nor does she like her father participating in an election campaign. She laments that she lives in a confined rural town, and yearns for the wonderful lifestyle of living in Tokyo. Taki is a male high school student who lives in central Tokyo. He spends time with his friends, works part-time at an Italian restaurant, and is interested in architecture and fine arts. One day, Mitsuha has a dream where she is a young man. Taki also has a dream where he is a female high school student in a town in the mountains that he has never been to. What is the secret to their dreams of personal experience?

Shinkai also wrote the script for the film. Masashi Ando (Spirited Away, When Marnie Was There, Paprika) served as the animation director and Masayoshi Tanaka (anohana, The Anthem of the Heart, Toradora!) designed the characters. CoMix Wave Inc. animated the film.

Source: Sports Hochi (Shintarō Kamo) via Hachima Kikō