Film to Receive Nationwide Theatrical Release Following Premiere Source: Aniplex of America press release Official Site: sao-movie.net (Japan), sao-movie.net/us (US) Official Twitter: twitter.com/sao_anime Special Thanks to Joanna Metoki
Aniplex of America Inc. has announced that they will be hosting the North American premiere of the highly anticipated feature film SWORD ART ONLINE THE MOVIE – ORDINAL SCALE – (??? ???????????? -???????????-, Gekijooban Soodo Aato Onrain -Oodinaru Sukeeru-). The premiere will take place at the historic Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 1, 2017. Tickets for the event will be available for purchase on the official website starting next Tuesday, November 15, at 12PM (PST). Aniplex of America has also announced their plan to release SWORD ART ONLINE THE MOVIE – ORDINAL SCALE – in theaters nationwide following the premiere event. Details on theater locations and tickets for the nationwide release will be announced at a later date. SWORD ART ONLINE THE MOVIE – ORDINAL SCALE – will be distributed by ELEVEN ARTS in the original Japanese audio with English subtitles. The animated TV series SWORD ART ONLINE (????????????, Soodo Aato Onrain) is based on author Reki Kawahara’s light novel (winner of the 15th Dengeki Novel Award Grand Prize) in which the protagonist Kirito fights to survive in the mysterious next-gen VRMMORPG called “Sword Art Online.” Since the first volume of the novel was published in April 2009, the series has proved extremely popular, with cumulative sales exceeding 12.5 million units in Japan and 19 million worldwide, spawning two TV anime adaptations, video games, comic books, and merchandise. STORY In 2022, the world of virtual reality was upended by the arrival of a new invention from a genius programmer, Akihiko Kayaba, called NerveGear. It was the first full-dive system, and with it, came endless possibilities to VRMMORPGs. In 2026, a new machine called the Augma is developed to compete against the NerveGear and its successor, the Amusphere. A next-gen wearable device, the Augma doesn’t have a full-dive function like its predecessors. Instead, it uses Augmented Reality (AR) to get players into the game. It is safe, user-friendly and lets users play while they are conscious, making it an instant hit on the market. The most popular game on the system is “Ordinal Scale” (aka: OS), an ARMMORPG developed exclusively for the Augma. Asuna and the gang have already been playing OS for a while, by the time Kirito decides to join them. They’re about to find out that Ordinal Scale isn’t all fun and games... CREDITS STAFF Original story: Reki Kawahara (published by Dengeki Bunko) Original character designs: abec Director: Tomohiko Ito Character design/Chief animation director: Shingo Adachi Monster design: Ryuta Yanagi Prop design: Tomoya Nishiguchi UI design: Satoshi Watsuji Art director: Takayuki Nagashima Art supervision: Yusuke Takeda Art settings: Yoshinori Shiozawa Color Design: Satoshi Hashimoto Concept art: Sotaro Hori Director of Photography: Kentaro Waki CGI director: Ryuta Undo Editing: Shigeru Nishiyama Sound Director: Yoshikazu Iwanami Music: Yuki Kajiura Production: A-1 Pictures Distribution: Aniplex Inc. Produced by: SAO MOVIE Project CAST Kirito (Kazuto Kirigaya): Yoshitsugu Matsuoka Asuna (Asuna Yuuki): Haruka Tomatsu Yui: Kanae Ito Leafa (Suguha Kirigaya): Ayana Taketatsu Silica (Keiko Ayano): Rina Hidaka Lisbeth (Rika Shinozaki): Ayahi Takagaki Sinon (Shino Asada): Miyuki Sawashiro Klein (Ryotaro Tsuboi): Hiroaki Hirata Agil (Andrew Gilbert Mills): Hiroki Yasumoto Akihiko Kayaba: Koichi Yamadera © 2016 Reki Kawahara/Published by KADOKAWA ASCII-MediaWorks/SAO MOVIE Project
About Aniplex of America Inc.
Aniplex of America Inc. (Santa Monica, California) is a subsidiary of Aniplex Inc. (headquartered in Tokyo, Japan), a group of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. and a leading provider of anime content and music production and distribution in Japan. Aniplex of America has launched fan-favorite Blu-ray and DVD releases including SWORD ART ONLINE, KILL la KILL, BAKEMONOGATARI, FATE/ZERO, PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA, BLUE EXORCIST, NISEKOI, OREIMO 2, MAGI: THE KINGDOM OF MAGIC, EXPELLED FROM PARADISE, The irregular at magic high school, ALDNOAH.ZERO, FATE/STAY NIGHT [UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS] and DURARARA!!×2. The company`s ever-growing line-up of shows includes our most recent titles ERASED, SWORD ART ONLINE II, THE ASTERISK WAR, OWARIMONOGATARI, YOUR LIE IN APRIL, CHARLOTTE, CLASSROOM CRISIS, WAGNARIA!!3 and GOD EATER.
About ELEVEN ARTS
ELEVEN ARTS is a Los Angeles based film production/distribution company known for distributing high quality Japanese films, both live-action and animation, to North American audiences. ELEVEN ARTS’s major live-action titles include: Japan Academy Awards winner MEMORIES OF TOMORROW (starring Ken Watanabe) and Oscar nominated director Yoji Yamada’s samurai film LOVE AND HONOR. ELEVEN ARTS` anime titles include: YO-KAI WATCH, DIGIMON ADVENTURE tri, CHAPTER 1: REUNION, the EVANGELION franchise, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: THE SACRED STAR OF MILOS, the PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA franchise, BLUE EXORCIST: THE MOVIE, EXPELLED FROM PARADISE, THE LAST: NARUTO THE MOVIE, BORUTO: NARUTO THE MOVIE, and THE ANTHEM OF THE HEART.
For more information on SWORD ART ONLINE THE MOVIE – ORDINAL SCALE –, please see the previous coverage here on SciFi Japan:
- SWORD ART ONLINE THE MOVIE – ORDINAL SCALE – Coming Spring 2017
- SWORD ART ONLINE THE MOVIE – ORDINAL SCALE – Update