Studio Ghibli: New film Aya and the Witch to be released this winter

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Studio Ghibli fans around the world have a reason to celebrate.

It has been almost six years since the Japanese animation studio’s last release – 2014 film When Marnie Was There – but fans now have a clearer idea as to when they can expect to see Aya and the Witch.

Excitingly, it’s been announced that the film will not be affected by the global pandemic, and will be released later this year.

The new project is a collaboration between Hayao Miyazaki, who came out of retirement for this release as well as new film How Do You Live?, and his son, Goro.

While Goro gets the sole directing credit for the film, which will bypass a theatrical release for a television broadcast, his father is being credited with developing it. Regular producer Toshio Suzuki is also attached.

Aya and the Witch is an adaptation of a novel written by Diana Wine Jones, who wrote Howl’s Moving Castle, which Studio Ghibli adapted in 2004.

The news comes after the film was named as part of the lineup of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, which was cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Yesterday (3 June), the films that had been selected were announced anyway in an attempt to help boost their distribution chances (not that Ghibli needs any help).

Aya and the Witch is scheduled to be unveiled this winter, while How Do You Live?, directed by Hayao Miyazaki, is expected to arrive in 2023.

In the meantime, you can catch up on every Studio Ghibli film on Netflix following the addition of its back catalogue earlier this year.