Originally released by Sony Pictures when it first came out, Satoshi Kon’s Tokyo Godfathers ended up with a bit of a standard release over the years that you’d expect from a large company not dealing with anime domestically much. Late last year, the film finally found itself in new hands as GKIDS has revealed their acquisition of the title. The company has picked up the North American theatrical and home video rights for the film. The company plans a new 4K restoration for this year while the film will be released in both with both the original Japanese language track as well as a new English language dub. Home video and theatrical plans will be revealed at a later date.
The theatrical side is now getting set up as they’ve revealed a partnership with Fathom Events for it with a planned March 9th and March 1th, 2020 debut. They’ll be showing the subtitled edition and dubbed edition on those dates respectively. Tickets go on sale on January 31st, 2020 through the Fathom Events site.
“We are pleased to partner with GKIDS to bring this wonderful re-release to American cinemas,” said Fathom Events CEO Ray Nutt. “Anime fans nationwide will once again be able to enjoy the brilliant work of Satoshi Kon in their local theaters among likeminded audiences.”
Check out our review of the film.
Plot Concept: It’s Christmas Eve in Tokyo. Three homeless people – alcoholic Gin, drag queen Hana, and teenage runaway Miyuki – discover an abandoned baby in a pile of garbage. Rather than turn the infant over to the police, the trio decides instead to find the baby’s parents themselves.
Following the only clue they have, a locker key, the three godfathers embark on a surprising journey of danger, humor, and excitement. And in the process, they revisit their own haunted pasts and learn to face their future.
