‘Mary and The Witch’s Flower’ to Premiere in Cinemas for Special One-Night Adventure January 18
The Debut Feature From Studio Ponoc Will Screen in Movie Theaters Nationwide, Featuring an Exclusive Interview With the Academy Award®-Nominated Filmmakers
DENVER – October 18, 2017 – GKIDS and Fathom Events are partnering on the much-anticipated debut title from Studio Ponoc, “Mary and The Witch’s Flower,” which will get a special one-night national premiere on the big screen this January, prior to its wide theatrical release. This stunning, action-packed fantasy adventure is the second collaboration between Academy Award®-nominated director Hiromasa Yonebayashi (who directed Studio Ghibli’s When Marnie Was There and The Secret World of Arrietty) and fellow two-time Academy Award®-nominated producer Yoshiaki Nishimura (Studio Ghibli’s The Tale of The Princess Kaguya and When Marnie Was There).
Presented by GKIDS, Fathom Events and Studio Ponoc, “Mary and The Witch’s Flower” will hit cinemas nationwide on Thursday, January 18 for a special premiere event with two showings, one at 7:00 p.m. (dubbed in English featuring Ruby Barnhill, Kate Winslet and Jim Broadbent) and the second at 8:00 p.m. (subtitled in English) local time. In addition to the feature content, audiences will be treated to an exclusive interview with the filmmakers as well as a special commemorative item (while supplies last at select locations). “Mary and The Witch’s Flower” will open in select cinemas nationwide for regular screenings starting January 19.
Tickets for the January 18 screenings of “Mary and The Witch’s Flower” can be purchased beginning Friday, October 20, by visiting www.FathomEvents.com or at participating theater box offices. A complete list of theater locations will be available October 20 on the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change).
Mary, an ordinary twelve-year-old girl, is bored and lonely during a summer holiday. She follows an odd cat into the nearby woods where she stumbles upon a flower and then a little broomstick. Together the flower and broomstick whisk her above the clouds, far away to Endor College – a school of magic! At Endor, Mary tells a lie that leads to peril, and then a promise, while discovering that all is not as it seems at the school – there are experiments that horrify. Soon she confronts great danger, and a test of her resolve.
“Studio Ponoc has created a remarkable debut with ‘Mary and The Witch’s Flower,’ full of the beauty and adventure we have come to expect from such an accomplished filmmaking team,” said David Jesteadt, President of GKIDS. “We look forward to continuing our relationship with the filmmakers, as well as Fathom Events, to create a very special night for fans that have been anticipating this film for as long as we have.”
“Fathom is thrilled to bring audiences the first look at the first film from Japan’s Studio Ponoc with this special one-night premiere of ‘Mary and The Witch’s Flower,’” said Kymberli Frueh, Fathom Events VP of Programming. “This is an enchanting, gorgeously animated, fantasy-adventure, and the perfect event to kick off the 2018 slate of anime and animated offerings we are presenting with GKIDS.”
For artwork/photos related to “Mary and The Witch’s Flower,” visit the Fathom Events press site.
About Fathom Events
Fathom Events is the leading event cinema distributor with participating theaters in all 100 of the top Designated Market Areas®, and ranks as one of the largest overall distributors of content to movie theaters. Owned by AMC Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: AMC), Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK) and Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) (known collectively as AC JV, LLC), Fathom Events offers a variety of one-of-a-kind entertainment events in theaters such as live performances of the Metropolitan Opera, top stage productions including Newsies! The Broadway Musical and George Takei’s Allegiance, major sporting events such as Mayweather vs. MacGregor, epic concerts with artists like Grateful Dead and Dixie Chicks, the yearlong TCM Big Screen Classics series, inspirational events such as Steve McQueen: American Icon and In Our Hands, and beloved anime titles like Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Fathom Events takes audiences behind the scenes for unique extras including audience Q&As, backstage footage and interviews with cast and crew, creating the ultimate VIP experience. Fathom Events’ live digital broadcast network (“DBN”) is the largest cinema broadcast network in North America, bringing live and pre-recorded events to 897 locations and 1,387 screens in 181 DMAs. For more information, visit www.fathomevents.com.
About GKIDS
GKIDS is a producer and distributor of award-winning feature animation for both adult and family audiences. Since 2010, the company has scored an astounding nine Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations – with The Secret of Kells in 2010, A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita in 2012, Ernest & Celestine in 2014, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya and Song of the Sea in 2015, Boy and the World and When Marnie Was There in 2016, and My Life as a Zucchini in 2017. GKIDS also handles North American distribution for the famed Studio Ghibli library of films, one of the world’s most coveted animation collections with titles Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and others. This fall, GKIDS is launching ANIMATION IS FILM, an annual LA-based film festival produced in partnership with Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Variety Magazine. The first edition unspools October 20-22 at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
About Studio Ponoc
Studio Ponoc is the new home of the next generation of creative minds behind films from the award-winning Studio Ghibli, which has delighted audiences with its breathtaking films for over 30 years including Spirited Away and Ponyo. Studio Ponoc’s Oscar®-nominated founder Yoshiaki Nishimura (The Tale of The Princess Kaguya and When Marnie Was There) brought together Oscar®-nominated Hiromasa ‘Maro’ Yonebayashi (Arrietty and When Marnie Was There) with former Studio Ghibli animators and artists, and other renowned animators and artists, to create new films in the famed tradition of the breathtakingly beautiful hand-drawn and hand-painted animated works of Studio Ghibli. The filmmakers visited Shropshire in the UK in 2015 to take in the pastoral world in which Mary Stewart placed the original story. The film now begins its international roll out, following its successful Japanese release this summer.
