Your Name Anime Movie Director Is Making New Film; Releasing Early 2020 (US)

GKIDS has announced it has acquired the distribution rights to Weathering With You (known as Tenki no Ko in Japan) and will debut the anime movie in the US in 2020. Weathering With You is directed by Makoto Shinkai, best known for directing the critically acclaimed both 5 Centimeters Per Second and Your Name--the latter of which surpassed Spirited Away as Japan's highest-grossing animated film of all time.

"GKIDS is thrilled to be working with Makoto Shinkai and Genki Kawamura on Weathering With You, following their blockbuster hit Your Name," GKIDS founder and CEO Eric Beckman said in a press release, according to Variety. "We have been huge fans of Makoto Shinkai since his breathtaking 5 Centimeters Per Second, and he is unquestionably one of the top animation filmmakers working today. Weathering With You combines Shinkai's unparalleled visually beautiful and detailed animation with a riveting emotional story that will be sure to connect with audiences worldwide."

Weathering With You follows the exploits of Hokoda, a high school student who runs away from home to go live in Tokyo. Unfortunately for him, city life isn't as grand as he hoped, and he soon finds himself in financial trouble. For some strange reason, the weather is always gloomy as well, with non-stop rain. To make ends meet, Hokoda starts writing in a magazine that deals with the occult and supernatural phenomenon. His life takes a very real, very fantastical turn, however, when he meets Hina, a high school girl with the ability to reverse the rain and make the sky sunny again.

Weathering With You is already scheduled to premiere in Japan on July 19. No exact date has been announced for the US debut, other than early 2020. Like Your Name, the movie will be shown in US theaters in both Japanese with English subtitles and English dub.

Your Name has recently been in the news again as its popularity has inspired Hollywood to create an Americanized live-action remake. The remake is being produced by The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker director J.J. Abrams and its screenplay is being written by Arrival screenwriter Eric Heisserer. A release date has yet to be announced.