Christian Bale, Florence Pugh – The Hollywood Reporter
“The Boy and the Heron”
Provided by GKIDS
Indie production and distribution company GKIDS has announced the English voice cast for director Hayao Miyazaki’s highly anticipated hand-drawn animated film. boy and heron.
The cast includes Christian Bale (Shoichi Maki), Dave Bautista (Parrot King), Gemma Chan (Natsuko), Willem Dafoe (noble pelican), Karen Fukuhara (Mrs. Himi), Mark Hamill (Great Uncle), Robert Pattinson (Heron), Florence Pugh (Chirico). Luca Padovan joins the cast as the main character, Maki Mahito, while Mamoudou Ati, Tony Revolori, and Dan Stevens appear as Inko.
GKIDS handled the casting and worked closely with Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli to produce the English version. Scheduled for release in North America in its original Japanese and English version on December 8, the film is an original, semi-autobiographical story and will be Oscar-winning director Miyazaki’s first feature film in 10 years.
boy and heron It was a huge hit when it was released in Japan on July 14th. The film had its international premiere as the opening night film at the Toronto International Film Festival and will be screened in IMAX at the TCL Chinese Theater on October 18th as the opening night film for the Animation is Film Festival.
GKIDS is responsible for the North American distribution of Studio Ghibli films and produces the annual Ghibli Fest.
Bale is repped by WME, Viewpoint, Goodman, Genow, Shenkman, Smelkinson and Christopher. Bautista is repped by CAA, Jonathan Meisner of Meisner Entertainment Group, Covert Creative and Carl Austin of Jackoway Austin Tyerman. Chan is repped by Independent, WME and M88. Dafoe is repped by Circle of Confusion, WME and Narrative. Fukuhara is represented by UTA and Stride Management. Hamill is represented by Gersh, R&CPMK and Robert M. Lange. Pattinson is repped by WME, Curtis Brown, 3 Arts Entertainment, Narrative and Sloane, Offer, and Weber & Dern. Pugh is repped by CAA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, Shelter PR and JSSK by Gregory Slewett.
