All aboard the hype train, folks, because Broly’s returning to the big screen this winter!
©Bird Studio/Shueisha, Toei Animation Licensed by Funimation® Productions, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
On July 12, Funimation announced that they acquired the theatrical rights to Dragon Ball Super: Broly. The publisher will give the film a theatrical run in the United States and Canada in January 2019.
As part of the marketing plan for the film, Funimation will sponsor the Dragon Ball North America Tour 2018 fan event. The event, which launches on July 19 at San Diego Comic-Con, will travel to seven ciies across the United States and Canada.
Dragon Ball Super: Broly hits Japanese theaters on December 14. The feature receive IMAX, MX4D, and 4DX screenings, in addition to a standard theatrical run. The staff hopes to give the feature a global run, with all regions opening on the same day.
Tatsuya Nagamine (HappinessCharge PreCure!, One Piece Film Z) will direct the feature at Toei Animation. Series creator Akira Toriyama is providing character designs and writing the script for the feature.
Other confirmed staffers include:
- Animation Director: Naohiro Shintani
- Art Director: Kazuo Ogura
Masako Nozawa will return to voice Goku in the film.
Toei describes the feature as:
The theme for this remarkable new film will be “Saiyan”, the strongest race in the universe. Since “Battle of the Gods”, Goku has undergone new forms from Super Saiyan God to Super Saiyan Blue to other evolved forms that have gone up against many invincible warriors from multiple universes. This new story will focus on the origin of the Saiyans’ strength and what it means to be Saiyan.
The project is the 20th Dragon Ball movie.
Dragon Ball is one of the most iconic manga and anime properties in the world. Akira Toriyama’s original manga first appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1984. To date, the series has spawned more than 40 collected manga volumes, as well as numerous spinoffs and anime adaptations.
To date, the Dragon Ball manga has sold more than 240 million volumes worldwide.
Dragon Ball Super is the latest entry into the franchise. The series began airing on July 5, 2015 on Fuji TV. The series is being helmed by Kimitoshi Chioka (episodes 1-32) and Morio Hatano (ep 33 – present) at Toei Animation, with Tadayoshi Yamamuro (Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, Beet the Vandel Buster) providing character designs. The show is the first new Dragon Ball TV series to air since Dragon Ball GT in 1996.
Funimation describes the series as:
With Majin Buu defeated, Goku has taken a completely new role as a…radish farmer?! With Earth at peace, our heroes have settled into normal lives. But they can’t get too comfortable. Far away, a powerful God awakens to a prophecy revealing his demise at the hands of a formidable being. When his search for the Saiyan God brings him to Earth, can Goku and his friends take on their strongest foe yet?
Source: Funimation (Press Release)
Funimation to Give Dragon Ball Super: Broly a North American Theatrical Run in January 2019 – Samantha Ferreira
