‘Scarlet’: Sony To Co-Produce ‘Belle’ Filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda’s Next Animated Feature

Sony Pictures is set to co-produce and co-finance the highly anticipated new animated film, Scarlet, from Academy Award-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda (Mirai, Belle, Wolf Children) with Studio CHIZU and Nippon TV.

Sony will distribute Scarlet globally (outside Japan) with the U.S. release earmarked for winter 2025. Toho will release in the home market. 

Producers are Yuichiro Saito (Studio CHIZU), Toshimi Tanio (Nippon TV), Nozomu Takahashi (Studio CHIZU).

Scarlet is described as the story of a brave princess who transcends time and space.

Hosoda began his career at Toei Animation in 1991 as an animator. In 1999, he made his directorial debut with Digimon Adventure. His other early credits include Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! (2000) and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) which was the first winner of the newly established Japan Academy Prize Best Animation as well as numerous other awards. In 2009, Hosoda released Summer Wars based on a story he wrote; it swept the animation awards in Japan, and screened at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival as well as scooping a nomination for the 2011 Best Director Annie Award. 

In 2011, Hosoda and producer Yuichiro Saito co-established Studio CHIZU, an animation studio where he directed and wrote the screenplay for Wolf Children (2012) and The Boy and the Beast (2015). His work on Mirai (2018) scored an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature. His most recent film, Belle (2021), was selected for the Cannes Première section at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, and has gone on to be his biggest box office success with $65 million worldwide.