Source: Toho Co., Ltd., Pony Canyon Official Site: the-promised-neverland-movie.jp (Japan)

A SCIFI JAPAN EXCLUSIVE

Over 25 million copies sold worldwide! An extraordinarily suspenseful prison break story! The "forbidden" live-action film adaptation will come to the big screen! Toho Co., Ltd. and Pony Canyon have provided SciFi Japan with press notes and high-res photos from THE PROMISED NEVERLAND (約束のネバーランド, Yakusoku no Nebārando). The film, an extraordinarily suspenseful prison break story, is a live action adaptation of the manga of the same name by writer Kaiu Shirai and artist Posuka Demizu that has been serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine since August 2016. An anime television series adaptation ran from January to March 2019,with a second season set to premiere in January 2021. “Children being happily raised in an orphanage were actually being reared as food to be offered to demons.” This work with this shocking premise has received Kono Manga ga Sugoi! (This Manga is Amazing!) Male Readers’ Top1 (Takarajimasha, Inc.), the 63rd Shogakukan Manga Award (Boy’s category), the Manga Shimbun (Manga Newspaper) Award 2017 among other domestic awards, on top of various other manga awards from overseas including those from France and South Korea. The Promised Neverland (also known as “Yaku-Neba” for short) goes against the conventional expectation of Jump comics, but grabbed the hearts of readers with its depiction of boys and girls working together to overcome an overwhelmingly adverse situation, and grew into an exceptionally big hit. THE PROMISED NEVERLAND opens in Japanese cinemas this Friday, December 18.

STORY Grace Field House is a paradisiacal orphanage filled with happiness. The orphans who live there with their “Mother”, the caretaker, Isabella (Keiko Kitagawa), all look forward to the day they grow old enough to be adopted. Emma (Minami Hamabe), Ray (Kairi Jyo) and Norman (Rihito Itagaki) also believe they could lead an even happier life once they get to live in the outside world… only until “that day”. After Emma and Norman see Conny off, who smilingly leaves the orphanage to be adopted, they find the doll Conny always kept in her arms left back at the dining area of the house. To take the doll back to Conny, the two head to the “gate” which Isabella strictly has taught the children to stay away from, where they find Conny dead and ready to be shipped out as “food”. The orphanage which the children thought to be was idyllic, was actually a “farm” to grow edible children to be offered to demons. Furthermore, the “Mother” they had all loved like their actual mother was actually a “cultivator” whose role was to raise the children to be premium feed. Finding out that everything was all but a fantasy, Emma, Ray and Norman begin their reckless attempt to break out of Grace Filed House along with their other siblings.

CREDITS Japanese Release Date: December 18, 2020 (Nationwide Roadshow) Cast Emma: Minami Hamabe Ray: Kairi Jyo Norman: Rihito Itagaki Natto: Fuga Shibazaki Krone: Naomi Watanabe Isabella: Keiko Kitagawa Crew Director: Yuichiro Hirakawa Original Story：The Promised Neverland by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu (Shueisha Jump Comics) Screenplay: Noriko Goto Producer: Ken Murase Distributor (Japan): Toho International Sales: Pony Canyon © Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu / Shueisha © 2020 Fuji Television Network, Shueisha, Toho

---

About Toho Co., Ltd.

Founded in 1932 and headquartered in Tokyo, Toho Company, Ltd. is one of the leading entertainment conglomerates in Japan. Toho is best known worldwide as the producer of the Godzilla films, as well as most of the films by the world-renowned director, Akira Kurosawa. Besides film production, Toho also distributes Japanese films (earning the highest box office receipts for decades in Japan) as well as foreign films through its subsidiary, owns first class movie theaters throughout Japan, produces legitimate plays and musicals, and has more than 100 entertainment-related subsidiaries.

About Pony Canyon Inc.

Pony Canyon has been at the forefront of Japan's video entertainment industry. Pony Canyon also develops digital software, utilizing the latest interactive and multimedia technology. Pony Canyon is a part of the Fuji Media Holdings Inc. which is Japan's largest and influential media conglomerate.