CinemaCon: Crunchyroll Acquires 3 New Films from Beloved Anime Series

gamerant.com:

One of the biggest annual trade shows for the movie industry, CinemaCon is an event that has become more and more of a mainstay in the annual pop culture sphere. Specifically dedicated to both movies as well as the craft of physical movie theaters, there was no better stage for Crunchyroll to announce a large slate of theatrical film releases for the North American market and beyond.

As anime continues to become more of a mainstay in global pop culture, the Sony-owned platform revealed its plans to bring 2010s and 2020s cult classic franchises to the big screen.

One of the most iconic sports anime of the 2010s is getting not one, but two theatrical films on the horizon. With the volleyball sports manga lasting for over eight years in Shōnen Jump, the Haikyu!! franchise has become a mainstay of sports anime in its own right, combining the intensity that fans of sports anime have come to expect with an engaging mixture of comedy and relatable character depth.

Billed as a double-feature finale to the anime series, the first film, The Dumpster Battle, has been confirmed for a limited-run theatrical distribution through Crunchyroll and Sony, spiking into theaters across North America on May 31, 2024. For longtime fans, the new film is set to be a perfect tenth-anniversary celebration for the original Haikyu!! anime’s initial Japanese broadcast in April of 2014.

Adapted from the Weekly Shōnen manga that has been ongoing since 2018, the uniquely stylish Blue Lock centers around the Japanese national soccer team and their adoption of an intense new training program crafted to develop the ultimate soccer strike; “Blue Lock”.

Adapting the Nagi arc from the manga, the new film, Blue Lock the Movie: Episode Nagi, brings together the same director of the main anime series, Shunsuke Ishikawa, along with the original Japanese voice staff and the close supervision of original manga creator Muneyuki Kaneshiro. With a Japanese theatrical run beginning in April, the North American