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GKIDS Screens Lupin the IIIrd: The Immortal Bloodline Anime Film on January 4-6

GKIDS announced on Tuesday that it will screen Lupin the IIIrd The Movie: The Immortal Bloodline (Lupin the IIIrd The Movie: Fujimi no Ketsuzoku), the new feature-length film in the Lupin III franchise, in theaters in the U.S. on January 4-6. The company streamed an English-subtitled trailer:

GKIDS describes the film's story:

After fending off a series of skilled assassins, gentleman thief Lupin III and his band of allies follow a strange invitation to an uncharted island. When their plane is shot down, the gang is stranded and soon hunted by the island's inhabitants, past enemies, and a monstrous immortal being known as Muom, who threatens to destroy Lupin's legacy. As a deadly toxic fog settles over them, Lupin must confront his greatest enemy in his most daring escapade yet.

New cast members include:

• Ainosuke Kataoka as Muom, an immortal man
• Aoi Morikawa as Sarifa, a mysterious girl who serves Muom

Takeshi Koike (Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen's Gravestone, Lupin the IIIrd: Goemon's Blood Spray, Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko Mine's Lie) returned to the franchise to direct the film at Telecom Animation Film. Yūya Takahashi (Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen's Gravestone, Lupin the IIIrd: Goemon's Blood Spray, Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko Mine's Lie, Lupin the 3rd Part 6) also returned to write the screenplay. James Shimoji returned from the three films to compose the music, and Katsuhito Ishii also returned from the three films as creative adviser. TMS Entertainment is credited with production and writing. TOHO NEXT is distributing the film. Rock band B'z perform the film's theme song "The IIIRD Eye".

According to the staff, the film is the first new 2D feature-length anime film in the franchise in nearly 30 years, since Lupin III: Dead or Alive in 1996. Since then, other anime have screened in theaters such as Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen's Gravestone, Lupin the IIIrd: Goemon's Blood Spray, and Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko Mine's Lie, but those were not feature-length films. The 2019 film Lupin III THE FIRST was CG, and the 2013 film Lupin III vs. Detective Conan The Movie and the 2023 film Lupin III vs. Cat's Eye were both crossover films.

The film earned 130,569,700 yen (about US$909,500) in its first three days.

The net anime prequel titled Lupin the IIIrd: Zenigata to Futari no Lupin (Zenigata and the Two Lupins) began streaming in various services in Japan including on Amazon Prime Video on June 20. The anime features a returning cast and staff. Kenyū Horiuchi plays a fake Lupin in the anime.

The "hard action" net anime centers on Inspector Zenigata, Lupin's nemesis and erstwhile ally, as the protagonist. The story begins with an explosive terrorist attack in an airport in the wintry "Roviet Union," (a wordplay on the Japanese term for the Soviet Union) with Lupin cast as the prime suspect. Zenigata apprehends Lupin, who maintains his innocence, and Zenigata is quickly embroiled in a plot that seems to involve more than one Lupin.

Source: GKIDS' X/Twitter account via Lupin Central