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Sword Art Online Film to Play in About 1,000 Theaters Worldwide

The staff of the Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale anime film announced during the World Cosplay Summit event in Nagoya on Sunday that the film will play in about 1,000 theaters worldwide. The staff then screened a trailer on multiple screens with Japanese, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Korean, and Thai subtitles simultaneously.

The film's Japanese run will start with a tour with stage appearances by cast and staff, and will also have limited edition merchandise available. The film is set to open in 150 theaters in Japan, and Aniplex of America confirmed the film's overseas release.

Aniplex describes the movie's story:

In 2026, two years since the SAO incident, a new game called "Oridinal Scale," an Augmented-Reality MMO, is becoming popular among the players. But…strange things are happening in the game and Kirito and the gang are facing a new danger. A brand new story created by the original author, Reki Kawahara and directed by Tomohiko Ito, "Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale-" is coming to theaters in Spring 2017.

Character designer Shingo Adachi drew the new visual:

The film's returning cast includes:

• Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Kirito
• Haruka Tomatsu as Asuna
• Rina Hidaka as Silica
• Ayahi Takagaki as Lisbeth
• Miyuki Sawashiro as Sinon
• Hiroaki Hirata as Klein

The film's all-new original story will take place after the Mother's Rosario arc, which was the final arc depicted in the TV anime's second season. Original light novel author Reki Kawahara is writing a new story for the film. Tomohiko Ito is returning from the two TV anime series and the anime special to direct the film at A-1 Pictures. Shingo Adachi is also returning from the TV anime to design the characters based on abec's original character designs, and Yuki Kajiura is returning to score the music.

Source: Sports Hochi via Yaraon!