Star-studded cast announced for English version of Studio Ghibli’s ‘The Boy and The Heron’
The English voice cast for Studio Ghibli‘s animated fantasy The Boy and the Heron has been unveiled, featuring Florence Pugh, Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe and more.
The long-awaiting film took around seven years to make and was finally released in Japanese theatres on July 14th, 2023. Following a showing at the Toronto International Film Festival, The Boy and the Heron will receive a theatrical release in the United Kingdom this December.
According to the official synopsis, the film follows “a young boy named Mahito, yearning for his mother, ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning.”
The dubbed version of Hayao Miyazaki’s latest offering will feature an impressive list of huge Hollywood names. Luca Padovan and Christian Bale will play father and son in the film, taking on the roles of Mahito Maki and Shoichi Maki respectively. This will mark Bale’s second role in a dubbed Miyazaki film – he also played Howl in 2004’s Howl’s Moving Castle.
Bale and Padovan are joined by Florence Pugh, Robert Pattinson, Mark Hamill, Dave Bautista, Gemma Chan, Willem Dafoe and Karen Fukuhara.
The film also sees the director reunite with composer Joe Hisaishi, who has provided music for a number of Miyazaki’s movies. The two have previously collaborated on fan favourites like My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away.
Watch the teaser trailer for The Boy and the Heron below.
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