'Weathering With You': Voice Cast For English Version REVEALED!
The English version of "Weathering With You" is now set for release after the distributor announced the official characters' voice cast.
In Oct. 2019, the hit movie creator Makoto Shinkai and GKIDS, an award-winning film distributor in New York, confirmed the English-version release of the popular anime movie by posting the official subtitled trailer in the same month.
Shinkai and GKIDS also stated that the film will hit North American theaters starting January 17, 2020, though the voice actors and actresses have been kept a secret until today.
The Voices Behind
Anime fans based in the U.S. got a surprise on Monday after GKIDS announced the complete list of the film's voice cast.
"The Hobbit" actor Lee Pace, "Mad Man" actress Alison Brie and Emmy awardee Riz Ahmed will be the ones to give life to the supporting characters, while Brandon Engman and Ashley Boettcher will be voicing Hodaka and Hina, the male and female leads respectively.
The film is about a teenager named Hodaka, who runs away from his home island to Tokyo. He is welcomed with a never-ending rain in the city and ends up meeting the girl who can change the weather and clear the skies, Hina. The film was completed with aesthetically pleasing and meteorologically-inclined settings as the backdrops.
"Tenki No Ko" Milestones
Before it was brought in the U.S., "Weathering With You" already proved its worth after it built a firm foundation with its numerous awards.
It recorded global gross sales of over $120 million, making it one of the most anticipated anime movies in the U.S.
Movie houses in Japan gained about US$12.22 million sales in the first three days, making it the highest-grossing film in the country in 2019 and one of the highest-earning film of all time.
It took a big leap over the recent 10-billion yen earner, "Your Name," which was also made by Shinkai.
Like "Weathering With You", "Your Name" has bagged the title of being the second highest-grossing anime film in Japan after "Spirited Away." It will also be up for an American remake soon.
Shinkai's latest film will hope to garner the same achievements as "Your Name" after being selected as Japan's official entry to Oscars 2020 and getting a nod for the Best International Film/Feature category in the prestigious event.
Before the news, "Weathering with You" was premiered at Toronto International Film Festival. It was then chosen as Japan's official submission for Best International Feature, setting another record to be the first anime film to be nominated since "Princess Mononoke" by Ghibli Studios in 1998.
What Makes "Weathering with You" Different
In an interview with Polygon during the TIFF, Shinkai said that he only wanted to explore two themes in his mlatest film and mentioned about climate change.
He pointed out that the issue has been tied with people's lives every day, and incorporating it into "Weathering with You" was something he took a point of by creating the main characters with the wishes of what is best for everyone.
Shinkai dedicated the film to young people in Japan. He also mentioned that he was able to finish the film with the help of RADWIMPS, the rock band who also made the album for "Your Name."
Other than RADWIMPS, he also asked for the participation of Nizo Yamamoto and Hidetsugu Ito. The former drew the paintings that will be seen during a temple visit in the film, while the latter was responsible for the creations of the raindrops that completed it.
