LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Hayao Miyazaki has been an important part of Studio Ghibli for a long time now. If Miyazaki’s name doesn’t sound too familiar, his work most definitely will help you recognize him. From ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ to ‘Spirited Away’ there’s a touch of Miyazaki in a plethora of Studio Ghibli films, which brings us to his upcoming movie, ‘How Do You Live?’
‘How Do You Live?’ will be written and directed by Miyazaki, and produced by Studio Ghibli. While this might seem like yet another Ghibli film, there is something unique about it, that truly makes it a standout. Studio Ghibli has decided to adopt a new strategy for Miyazaki’s ‘How Do You Live?’ and it will be interesting to see how it pans for the studio, director, and of course, the film.
What’s the unique strategy for ‘How Do You Live?’
In a shocking turn of events, Studio Ghibli has announced that there will be no trailer and no promotion whatsoever for Miyazaki’s ‘How Do You Live?’ Undoubtedly, this film has been extremely anticipated in Japan, and in the US as well, although the worldwide release dates are yet to be confirmed. Toshio Suzuki, who is one of the lead producers at Studio Ghibli, and has often worked with Miyazaki said, “As part of company operations, over the years Ghibli has wanted people to come see the movies we’ve made. So, we’ve thought about that and done a lot of different things for that purpose — but this time we were like, ‘Eh, we don’t need to do that. Doing the same thing you’ve done before, over and over, you get tired of it. So, we wanted to do something different," as per The Hollywood Reporter.
If you think Suzuki and Miyazaki are only skipping out on trailers and some press, think again. There will be no promotion (barring one poster) of any kind when it comes to ‘How Do You Live?’ You probably won’t even read about it in the newspaper, unless they are talking about this unique strategy. Could other films follow suit if ‘How Do You Live?’ has a perfect landing after this strategy?
‘How Do You Live?’ is Miyazaki’s final film
Miyazaki has one of the most successful career trajectories, and while his legacy will live on, ‘How Do You Live?’ will officially be his final film. It will be animated with a run time of 125 minutes, and loosely based on Genzaburo Yoshino’s 1937 novel by the same name. So, although fans won’t know a lot about the film before its release, there can be some guessing around it. Nevertheless, Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s unique strategy for the upcoming film feels like the perfect send-off for this phenomenal manga artist, filmmaker, and animator.
