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Encore Films Licenses Sumikko Gurashi Anime Film

Encore Films announced on Thursday that it will release Eiga Sumikko Gurashi: Tobidasu Ehon to Himitsu no Ko (Sumikko Gurashi The Movie - The Unexpected Picture Book and the Secret Child), the anime film of San-X's "Sumikko Gurashi" (Living in the Corner) characters, in Singapore and Indonesia. The company has not yet announced a release date for the film.

The anime film opened in Japan last November in 114 theaters and ranked #3 in its opening weekend. The film sold 104,000 tickets and earned 121 million yen (about US$1.11 million) over the weekend, but sold 114,280 tickets and earned 132,873,500 yen (about US$1.22 million) from Friday to Sunday of that week. The film had sold a total of 1.2 million tickets and earned 1.4 billion yen (about US$12.8 million) at the box office in Japan as of February 4.

Mankyū (Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls Theater, Jaku-San-Sei Million Arthur) directed the film at Fanworks. Takashi Sumita (Europe Kikaku) penned the script. Kaori Hino (Napping Princess, In This Corner of the World) was the art director.

The film's story begins when the Sumikko Gurashi characters find a mysterious picture book in the basement of a cafe they always go to. The film features new locales, items, and characters.

Sumikko Gurashi debuted in 2012 as slightly negative characters who like to stay in the corner of a room. The characters include "Shirokuma," a polar bear who is sensitive to cold; "Penguin?" (with a question mark in its name), a penguin who is unsure if it is actually a penguin; "Tonkatsu," a piece of pork cutlet that was left uneaten; "Neko," a shy cat; and "Tokage," who hides his nature as one of the last dinosaurs.

The franchise has inspired toys, books, stationery material, and video games.

Sources: Encore Films' Facebook page, Encore Films Indonesia's Facebook page