Studio Ghibli has announced its latest project from legendary filmmaker Miyazaki Hayao, titled “How Do You Live.”
The feature-length film is set to open in theaters in Japan on July 14 next year. No other details have been announced although Studio Ghibli did release a sketch to accompany the news of a bird-like creature.
The film is understood to be based on Genzaburo Yoshino’s 1937 YA book of the same name which tells the story of a 15-year-old boy as he goes on a journey to discovery spiritual growth, poverty and the meaning of life with the help of his uncle, whose advice is communicated to him from a journal.
Oscar-winning Miyazaki has long called “How Do You Live” one of his favorite books and announced in 2017 he planned to adapt it for screen. An English translation of the book was published for the first time in 2021 with an introduction by Neil Gaiman.
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“‘How Do You Live?’ is narrated in two voices,” reads the book’s jacket copy on the English translation. “The first belongs to Copper, fifteen, who after the death of his father must confront inevitable and enormous change, including his own betrayal of his best friend. In between episodes of Copper’s emerging story, his uncle writes to him in a journal, sharing knowledge and offering advice on life’s big questions as Copper begins to encounter them. Over the course of the story, Copper, like his namesake Copernicus, looks to the stars, and uses his discoveries about the heavens, earth, and human nature to answer the question of how he will live.”
Studio Ghibli, which was founded by Miyazaki in 1985, has been busy of late, recently opening a theme park based on Miyazaki’s works, which features rides and attractions inspired by films such as “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Princess Mononoke.” A “My Neighbor Totoro” stage adaptation by the Royal Shakespeare Company also recently opened in London, U.K.
The studio also collaborated last month with Lucasfilm on a Baby Yoda animated short, bringing together Grogu from “The Mandalorian” and the anthropomorphized coal dust bunnies from Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away.”
