GKIDS ACQUIRES NORTH AMERICAN DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS FROM TOEI ANIMATION TO THE FIRST SLAM DUNK ENGLISH DUB

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GKIDS, celebrating its 15th anniversary as a producer and distributor of award-winning and artist-driven animation from around the world, announced today it has acquired North American distribution rights for THE FIRST SLAM DUNK from globally acclaimed and industry-leading animation studio Toei Animation.

The smash hit film opened domestically in Japan on December 3, 2022, and has gone on to break box office records in a number of countries during its current international release. With a current global box office of over $212 million, the film has become the 24th highest grossing film of all time in Japan. Upon the film’s South Korea release, it climbed to #2 at the box office for its opening weekend – becoming, at the time, the most-watched Japanese movie ever in South Korea. Most recently, THE FIRST SLAM DUNK opened in Mainland China and with $55.2 million reported at the box office on opening weekend, became the biggest opening ever for an imported animated film in the country.

Written and created by Takehiko Inoue, “Slam Dunk” is a beloved manga which was serialized from 1990-1996. The original manga is one of the best-selling manga series of all time, with over 170 million copies sold globally, and has been adapted to various media and video games, including a hit anime series that ran from 1993-1996. THE FIRST SLAM DUNK marks the first new feature-length film from the globally cherished franchise in over 28 years, as well as original manga creator Takehiko Inoue’s directorial debut. The film went on to be awarded this year’s Japan Academy Prize for Best Animation of the Year – marking the first nomination and win for Inoue.

GKIDS will release THE FIRST SLAM DUNK theatrically in the United States and Canada in an all-new English dubbed version later this summer.

The North American distribution deal for theatrical and physical home video rights for the film was negotiated between GKIDS and Toei Animation.

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