Madman Entertainment continues to add more Studio Ghibli to their catalog of titles as they’ve acquired the rights to the latest feature from them with When Marnie Was There. The film was released in Japan this past summer where it made about $33 million during its theatrical run. The story is adapted from the novel by Joan G. Robinson, the latest Studio Ghibli film is directed by Hiromasa yonebayashi, who handled the film The Secret World of Arrietty. Unlike that project, this feature has had its location changed from England to Japan.
Plot concept: Anna hasn’t a friend in the world—until she meets Marnie among the sand dunes. But Marnie isn’t all she seems…
An atmospheric ghost story with truths to tell about friendship, families and loneliness. Anna lives with foster parents, a misfit with no friends, always on the outside of things. Then she is sent to Norfolk to stay with old Mr. and Mrs. Pegg, where she runs wild on the sand dunes and around the water. There is a house, the Marsh House, which she feels she recognizes—and she soon meets a strange little girl called Marnie, who becomes Anna’s first ever friend. Then one day, Marnie vanishes.
A new family, the Lindsays, move into the Marsh House. Having learnt so much from Marnie about friendship, Anna makes firm friends with the Lindsays—and learns some strange truths about Marnie, who was not all she seemed…
I’m preparing my tears for this movie xd