Mamoru Hosoda fans have been waiting for a new project by the Japanese director for a while, but the wait is about to end. This past weekend, Toho unveiled the first trailer of Scarlet, the new animated movie from the filmmaker that is set to hit U.S. theaters later this year. The story centers around a princess warrior who embarks on a quest to avenge her father’s death — which will take her to a mystical land. The movie is set to premiere on December 12.
The first trailer is in Japanese only, but for now it serves to showcase the art style of Scarlet and provide a general feel of the movie’s tone. Per Anime News Network, Hosoda stated that he’s going for a new animation look that has elements of traditional animation and 3D models. The result looks interesting, but only the full movie will be able to show us if the style indeed helped tell the story.
The twist in the story of Scarlet is that the protagonist leaps through space and time to exact revenge, and that ends up taking her to the land of the dead — which would explain why Hosuda wanted a different look for the story. From what the synopsis suggests, if you go to that place and can’t achieve your goal, you end up lost forever until you vanish into nothingness. How will the title character (voiced by Mana Ashida) make it out of that place? We will only find out in four months.
Is ‘Scarlet’ Preparing For The Awards Season?
Sony Pictures is handling international distribution and secured a theatrical run for Scarlet, which suggests that the company is confident that the anime movie could be a standout title in 2025. The strategic release also makes the movie eligible for an 2026 Oscar nomination, which might increase its popularity even more as fans root for a Best Animated Movie nod.
Not that it would be a surprise if Hosoda was nominated: the director’s body of work is practically mandatory for anyone who likes animation. His most famous movie is Mirai, the 2018 slice-of-life and fantasy film that was a top contender at the Oscars. Hosoda also directed several other acclaimed animated movies, such as Belle, Summer Wars, The Boy and the Beast, and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.
Since we still have a while until December, Sony will certainly release a subbed or dubbed trailer for Scarlet in the coming months. The movie will have early screenings at film festivals, including the 82nd Venice International Film Festival and this year’s TIFF. The movie opens in U.S. theaters on December 12.
