Film opens in Japanese theaters in 2026
Image via gkids.com
© 2026 GKIDS, INC.
GKIDS announced on Monday that it has acquired distribution rights for the live-action film adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s “Look Back” one-shot manga for the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Ireland. The company plans to release the film in theaters.
The film is currently in post-production and will open in Japan in 2026.
Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters, Our Little Sister, Air Doll) is directing and editing the film, and is also writing the screenplay. Yūta Bandō (BELLE, Kaiju No. 8, also known as Taku Matsushiba) is composing the music.
The staff also includes:
Image via Look Back anime’s X/Twitter
© 藤本タツキ／集英社 © 2024「ルックバック」製作委員会
The anime film of Fujimoto’s “Look Back” one-shot manga opened in theaters in Japan in June 2024. It ranked at #2 in terms of ticket sales (but #1 in weekend earnings) in its opening weekend. The film sold 135,000 tickets and earned 227 million (about US$1.40 million) in its first three days.
GKIDS screened the film in October 2024 in North America. The film earned US$688,253 at the U.S. box office in its opening weekend.
Fujimoto debuted the one-shot manga on Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ in July 2021. The manga had over 2.5 million views on its first day. Viz Media and MANGA Plus launched the manga digitally in English. Viz Media published the manga in print in September 2022. The company describes the story:
The overly confident Fujino and the shut-in Kyomoto couldn’t be more different, but a love of drawing manga brings these two small-town girls together. A poignant story of growing up and moving forward that only Tatsuki Fujimoto, the creator of Chainsaw Man, could have crafted.
Fujimoto (Fire Punch) debuted the Chainsaw Man manga in Weekly Shonen Jump in December 2018 and ended its “first part,” the “Kōan” (Public Safety) arc, in December 2020. The manga’s second part, titled “Gakkō-hen” (School Arc), started on Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ service in July 2022, and it will end on March 24 (March 25 in Japan).
The manga inspired an anime that premiered on TV Tokyo and five other affiliated channels, as well as on Amazon Prime Video in October 2022. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime in over 200 countries and territories around the world. The anime continued with a film Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc that opened in Japan on September 19. Sony Pictures Entertainment acquired worldwide theatrical rights the film and opened the film in theaters in the U.S. and Canada on October 24.
The manga’s Shikaku Arc (Assassins Arc) is getting an anime adaptation.
Sources: GKIDS, Deadline (Zac Ntim)
