Weathering With You Director Comments on Oscars Submission

Yesterday, film lovers kept their eyes on the news as details about the upcoming Oscars season [...]

By Megan Peters

Yesterday, film lovers kept their eyes on the news as details about the upcoming Oscars season trickled in. A slew of countries submitted their picks for Best International Feature Film, and Japan surprised with their choice. After more than 20 years, an anime film was selected to compete in the category, and the film's director is speaking out on the honor.

For those who don't know, Weathering With You was selected by Japan as the country's pick for Best International Feature Film. The anime film was overseen by director Makoto Shinkai who did Your Name several years back. Moving over to social media, Shinkai took a moment to thank everyone for all their well wishes following the announcement.

"Thank you very much," the director wrote. "I am very honored."

Despite having a slew of beloved films under his belt, this submission is a first for Shinkai. Your Name was expected to be nominated for an Oscar after it was released in 2016, but the global hit was snubbed in the end. Still, Shinkai has enjoyed critical and commercial success without an Academy Award to his name. To date, Weathering With You has grossed more than $100 million at the Japanese box office, and it has yet to enjoy the profits of an international release as of yet.

Of course, Weathering With You has a long way to go before it can live up to Your Name. The 2016 smash hit earned about $360 million worldwide which broke an important box office record Spirited Away set decades before. The Studio Ghibli film forfeited its title as the highest-grossing anime film of all time as Your Name earned the title fair and square. Now, it seems Weathering With You will try to nab the Oscar which Your Name never could, and fans are rallying behind Shinkai in support.

So, are you excited to see Weathering With You enter the Oscars race? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Tenki no Ko: Weathering With You was written and directed by Makoto Shinkai. Masayoshi Tanaka returns from Your Name to design the characters, Atsushi Tamura will serve as animation director, and Hiroshi Takiguchi will serve as art director. The film stars Kotaro Daigo as Hodaka Morishima and Nana Mori as Hina Amano along with Tsubasa Honda, Shun Oguri, Sakura Kiryuu, Sei Hiraizumi, Yuki Kaji, and Chieko Baisho in currently unconfirmed roles. GKIDS has confirmed they have licensed the film for an English language release with the current release window of 2020.

0comments
Start the Conversation

of