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Studio Ghibli’s newest movie, Earwig and the Witch, now has a US release date.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie will be released in selected cinemas on February 3 in both subtitled and English-dubbed versions On February 5, the movie will get an at-home release on HBO Max. There’s no word of a UK release date yet, though, unfortunately – Deadline reported that it’s been picked up by a distributor across the pond, but nothing else has been announced yet.
Directed by Goro Miyazaki, son of the studio’s co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, Earwig and the Witch is Studio Ghibli’s first 3D CGI animated movie and the studio’s first feature film since 2014’s When Marnie Was There. Miyazaki Jr.’s previous directorial Ghibli work includes 2006’s Tales from Earthsea and 2011’s From Up on Poppy Hill.
The movie follows Earwig, a 10-year-old girl in ‘90s England who’s adopted by Bella Yaga, a selfish witch, and taken away from the orphanage she loves. With the help of a talking cat, Earwig uses her wit to show the witch who‘s boss. The English-language voice cast includes Richard E. Grant, Kacey Musgraves, and Dan Stevens. It’s based on the children’s novel of the same by Diana Wynne Jones – she also wrote Howl’s Moving Castle, which was adapted into a Ghibli movie in 2004.
The Japanese studio is known for its iconic animated movies, including My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away, and Kiki’s Delivery Service. Miyazaki Sr., who has helmed the majority of the studio’s output along with his co-founder Isao Takahata, is set to take a seat in the writer/director chair again for 2023’s upcoming How Do You Live?.
