Hayao Miyazaki’s final film, the tentatively titled ?, is coming to IMAX theaters. The milestone marks a first for Miyazaki and the animation studio he co-founded nearly four decades ago. According to , the film will also screen in Dolby Atmos, Dolby Cinema and DTS:X when it arrives in Japan on July 14th.
As notes, past Studio Ghibli films did not receive the IMAX treatment during their original theatrical runs. When you add that to the fact is supposed to be Miyazaki’s swan song(or so the auteur claims), you have the makings of a must-see movie event. However, one potential hitch is that the film doesn’t have an international release date yet, and it’s unclear if a North American distributor could secure IMAX screens for when and if it arrives outside of Japan. In recent weeks, the availability of IMAX screens has been a contentious issue in Hollywood, with Tom Cruise reportedly calling some theaters to convince them to screen instead of Christopher Nolan’s .
Details on ? are sparse. Studio Ghibli has not released a trailer for the film or bought any TV spots. In fact, the only promotion it has done so far for is the single poster the studio released last month. The film is an original work but is named after the 1937 novel of the same name by Genzaburo Yoshino. In interviews, Miyazaki has said the book plays an influential role in the life of his film’s protagonist.