Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki and Alibaba Pictures CEO Jie Li at Studio Ghibli’s offices in Tokyo.
courtesy of Alibaba
Hayao Miyazaki’s acclaimed Studio Ghibli is teaming up with Chinese entertainment company Alibaba Pictures to collaborate on new anime experiences and business initiatives in the greater China market. The two companies signed a strategic agreement to partner on potential animation productions and a major Studio Ghibli immersive exhibition that will launch in China in 2024. The agreement was signed in early January at a previously undisclosed meeting in Tokyo by Ghibli’s longtime lead producer Toshio Suzuki, considered Miyazaki’s right-hand man, and Alibaba Pictures president Li Jie.
The first Studio Ghibli immersive exhibition will take place in Shanghai, according to Alibaba. The Chinese tech giant will use its Damai live-events digital ticketing platform to power the attraction.
“Enthusiastic fans and viewers will be treated to a captivating and immersive journey, submerging themselves in the enchanting realm of Hayao Miyazaki’s animation, thereby reliving the profound emotions and inspiring bravery brought by the master animator,” Alibaba said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
Sources in the Chinese industry tell THR that Alibaba has also signed on as a distribution partner for the Chinese theatrical release of Miyazaki’s latest feature The Boy and the Heron, which is expected to be approved by local regulators early this year. Alibaba declined to comment on any fixed plans for the new film, saying the companies have only signed an “agreement of intent” regarding business plans for The Boy and the Heron.
Miyazaki’s iconic hand-drawn animations are well-known and widely loved in China, thanks to the ready accessibility of pirated DVDs and downloads in the country — which, for a generation, was the only way to see his work there. But in recent years Studio Ghibli has begun making up for lost time by bringing select titles from Miyazaki’s catalog to Chinese multiplexes for the first time. The maestro’s My Neighbor Totoro earned $26 million from a China theatrical rerelease in 2018, followed by Spirited Away with $69 million in 2019. Fan favorite Castle in the Sky hit Chinese cinemas just last year.
The Boy and the Heron, Miyazaki’s first feature in a decade and potentially his last, is already one of his most critically and commercially successful titles. It has earned $43.1 million in North America — the biggest showing ever for a Studio Ghibli film — and it recently won a Golden Globe in the best animated feature category — a first for a non-English-language film.
Japanese anime has become a big business in China, much as it has virtually everywhere else in the world of late. Over the past year, Japanese anime hits have outperformed Hollywood blockbusters in China. Last spring, Mokoto Shinkai’s Suzume earned $110 million (RMB 808 million) in Chinese cinemas, followed by Toei Animation’s The First Slam Dunk with $90 million (RMB 660 million) in April. Much like Ghibli has with Alibaba, Shinkai partnered with Chinese company Road Pictures on a series of anime exhibitions and attractions to be built around his IP in the country.