As we get down to the final days before the June 21st, 2014 debut of Saint Seiya: Legend of Sanctuary in Japan, Toei Animation has dropped a new 30 second spot for the feature. The new feature is part of the anniversary year celebration for the work that has had a lot of adaptations over the years. It’s directed by Keiichi Satou with Yoshiki providing the theme song for it, which definitely attracts some attention for fans.
The feature is pulling double duty in a way as not only is it the 25th anniversary year of the creation of the original work, but the 40th anniversary of its creator as well in his profession as Masami Kurumada has been at this for quite some time. Lucky Red is best known for its distribution of art films with crossover potential, such as “Yves Saint Laurent,” ($726,355 this year) or upscale mainstream movies, such “Inside Llewyn Davis ($3.0 million).
But Lucky Red has also released and re-released all of Studio Ghibli’s movies in Italy since 2004. Expanding its relations with Japan, on Jan. 1, Lucky Red bowed Toei Animation’s “Space Pirate Captain Harlock,” helmed by Shinji Aramaki and, like “Saint Seiya,” another celebrated manga-turned-Toei-cartoon, to a standout early 2014 $6.7 million in Italy, the third best result in 2014 for a non-Hollywood studio or non-Italian title.
Toei’s 1978 TV series version of “Space Pirate Captain Harlock” broadcast in Italy. Gaumont’s live-action movie “Belle and Sebastien,” the highest grossing non-studio/Italian title of this year with a $9.5 million trawl, also saw an earlier anime series, ”Meiken Jolie,” which ran on Italian TV in 1981, creating a present-day nostalgia for the property.
“Following the relationship we built with Toei, it was very natural to release ‘Saint Seiya: Legend of Sanctuary,’ another Toei film based on a TV series hit in Italy,” said Stefano Massenzi, Lucky Red’s acquisitions head. Lucky Red will bow “Saint Seiya” theatrically in Italy in the late fall on over 200 screens, backed by event promotion, he added.
Nick Vivarelli contributed to this report
FILED UNDER: Ammecy Film FestivalAnimeAnnecy Daily OneAnnecy FestivalJapanese animationLucky RedSaint Seiya: Legend of SanctuaryToei Animation