Takeru Satoh is cast as the Dragon in Mamoru Hosoda's Belle film.
The cast of Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu's new anime film Belle (Ryu to Sobakasu no Hime, literally "The Dragon and the Freckled Princess") announced on Tuesday that actor Takeru Satoh (live-action Rurouni Kenshin, Bakuman., Ajin) will play the mysterious entity that is the dragon. The announcement was made during a press conference held at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo hotel to announce the completion of the film.
The film will be released in Japan on July 16. On July 15, the film will be shown for the first time at the Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Premiere section. This is Hosoda's first Official Selection at the festival. (In 2018, the director's previous Mirai film screened at the Directors' Fortnight, an independent section held concurrently with the festival.)
GKIDS has licenced the film for North America, and it will be released this winter in English and Japanese with English subtitles. The film will be shown in IMAX format in 38 theatres across Japan. This makes Belle the first of Hosoda's films to be shown in IMAX.
Hosoda (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, The Boy and The Beast, Mirai) is directing and writing the film, and he is also responsible for the original score. The film commemorates Studio Chizu's tenth anniversary. The film's music director and composer is Taisei Iwasaki (Blood Blockade Battlefront, Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan, The Naked Director).
The concept artwork for the film's online world of U was created by Eric Wong, a London-based architect and designer. The titular protagonist Belle was designed by Jin Kim (Frozen, Tangled, Big Hero 6, Moana). Suzu/Belle will be played by singer-songwriter Kaho Nakamura.
Sources: Comic Natalie, Anime News Network
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