EXCLUSIVE: Animation-focused sales company Gebeka International has acquired world sales rights to an upcoming 4K remastered version of Japanese animation director Mamoru Oshii’s 1985 animated feature Angel’s Egg.
Oshii is best known internationally for 1995 breakout Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, which world premiered in Competition in Cannes in 2004, and the Patlabor sci-fi franchise.
Angel’s Egg was first released on video by Japanese publishing and media company Tokuma Shoten in 1985, and, with time, it has come to be regarded by anime fans as a masterpiece that holds keys to Oshii’s later works.
The surreal, allegorical work is set against the backdrop of an underwater city and revolves around a young girl who takes scrupulous care of a large egg in the belief it is an angel’s egg. When a boy with a gun arrives in search of a bird he saw in a dream, he appears initially to be sympathetic to her mission, but then, he crushes the precious object.
The feature is based on an original story by Oshii and artist Yoshitaka Amano, who is the artistic designer for the popular Final Fantasy franchise.
Oshii directed Angel’s Egg, while Amano was art director. The voice cast features late Japanese star Jinpachi Nezu and Mako Hyodo.
As the 40th anniversary of its release approaches, rights holder and producer Tokuma Shoten has gotten behind the remastering project, with Oshii supervising the scanning of the original 35mm film and remastering in 4K. The remastered version will be made available this year in 4K formats suitable for Dolby cinema, theatrical and home theatre.
“With Mamoru Oshii overseeing the 4K remastering of Angel’s Egg, viewers can expect to immerse themselves in a cinematic experience that transcends the boundaries of animation, delivering a visually stunning and emotionally resonant journey that defies conventional storytelling. We are thrilled to handle international sales and that the film will be given a new life worldwide,” said Gebeka International sales agent Jason Bressand.
France-based sales company Gebeka International was created as a joint venture between Goodfellas (former Wild Bunch International) and animation company Gebeka Films in 2021, with a focus on all types of animation from stop-motion to 3D.
Further upcoming titles on its slate include Liane-Cho Han and Mailys Vallade’s Little Amelie, Guillaume Ivernel’s The Legendaries and Savages by Claude Barras, the Oscar-nominated director My life as a Zucchini, which will world premiere as a Special Screening in Cannes.
Tokyo-based Tokuma Shoten was founded in 1954 and is one of Japan’s oldest publishing groups. It was the first Japanese publishing company to take a mixed media approach to produce films based on its books. For a time, it counted Studio Ghibli, Daiei Film, and record label Tokuma Japan Communications as part of its group.
More recently, Tokuma Shoten have enjoyed success with BL content and weekly webcomic Ryu, which features works such as Everyday Life with Monster Girls by Okayado, which has become an international bestseller, while its portfolio of modern literature authors includes Jiro Akagawa, Kyotaro Nishimura, Riku Onda, Maha Harada and Shion Miura.