Why can't we get more anime films in the theaters?

[Julius Terrell]

I mean fucking seriously!!! I've seen a TON of anime films that were perfect for theatrical releases.

My top picks would have been:

Neon Genesis EVA movies (That would have been the perfect way end all the hype surrounding that series. Especially the rebuild movies.)
Perfect Blue
Tokyo God Fathers
Millennium Actress
Ghost in the Shell and part 2 (Which did get a limited run.)
Steamboy
Metropolis
Macross Plus
Akira
5cm per second
Dragonball Z movies
Ninja Scroll
An angel's Egg
The Fist of the North Star movie
Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (We needed this instead of that Hollywood abomination.)
Fatal Fury movies (I loved them!)

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are PLENTY MORE! Anyway....I just feel like it's just a shame that such big films don't get theatrical releases here. Hell, I've been hearing that the New EVA movie is being held up for a limited theatrical run here for some ungodly reason. There's no point in getting my hopes up because there's no way we'll see it here where I Live at, because I live in a small city.

Lastly, for the record I AM NOT a Miyazaki fan. I did like princess Mononoki(sp?), but I am not a fan of his movies(I am a fan of Momoru Oshii), but I know someone will mention them. Discuss!

 

[Marter]

Because they don't make money. Or, the distributors don't think they'll make money. That's why.

Example: The Wind Rises only made $5 million in America during its theatrical release.

 

[Queen Michael]

It really is a pity. I think it might have something to do with the rampant piracy among otaku. It's darn common for Western otaku to watch stuff illegally, so the idea that they'd pay to go see an anime flick might be a bit far-fetched. If I had a dollar for every anime/manga fan that only reads/watches fan-translated stuff because the official translation's allegedly inferior...

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

Uh, I don't know about Angel's egg, the audience will probably be bored to fucking tears, just like me (but it's fine if you liked it.)

But yeah, what Marter said. While anime do have a large, loyal fanbase and is better regarded now than they were before, the general public probably still perceive them as childish, or at least that's what distributors think. They're still too niche to be released mainstream. Also, unfortunately, 2D animation is kinda dead here in the states.

If an anime film does get released mainstream, depending what it is I'd probably go see it, though.

 

[Julius Terrell]

It really is a pity. I think it might have something to do with the rampant piracy among otaku. It's darn common for Western otaku to watch stuff illegally, so the idea that they'd pay to go see an anime flick might be a bit far-fetched. If I had a dollar for every anime/manga fan that only reads/watches fan-translated stuff because the official translation's allegedly inferior...

It's because there are limited avenues do buy stuff legally. Hell, I'd say 75% of anime/manga don't leave japan at all. So to actually get a theatrical release of ANYTHING here means we might as well be winning the lottery.

You don't know how many times I've talked to theater managers just to be told "sorry buddy, nobody cares!".

What's an otaku to do? I don't think this situation will ever improve!

In japan all kinds of anime movies get theatrical releases and here we can't even get one. Is one asking too much? It can't be!

 

[Michael Tabbut]

Some anime films do get limited theatrical releases but they tend to be few and far between. Eva 3.33 was the last anime film (outside of Miyazaki films) that I saw in a theater down near Harvard University.

 

[Julius Terrell]

Some anime films do get limited theatrical releases but they tend to be few and far between. Eva 3.33 was the last anime film (outside of Miyazaki films) that I saw in a theater down near Harvard University.

I never heard anything about this movie getting a theatrical run. If it has or hasn't. Not surprising if you ask me.

I know there was talk of DBZ: Battle of the Gods, but I don't think that movie is worth a theatrical release, but that's just my opinion.

Given that our culture only wants kiddy Disney movies in the theaters, it's no surprise that the status quo will never change. I am not a fan of Disney and will NEVER pay my own money to watch ANY film of there's that get put out.

Just because I love animation doesn't mean I'm going to go sit through a bunch of kiddy films. I want adult stories. Is that asking too much.

Lastly, an angel's egg is an art film. I know art films tend to do better at film festivals, but it would be nice for general audiences to get the chance to experience that unique film.

 

[Happiness Assassin]

Because they have been and always will be for a niche market, at least in the US. Very few names have the credibility to push themselves into theaters and even then it is a fight. Basically, Miyazaki is the only name behind the scenes that carries any kind of recognition and even that struggled. The Wind Rises only showed for one weekend here, which pissed my sister off to no end. Even big name series like DBZ and Pokemon stopped showing in theaters for years because it just wasn't worth it.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

There's no money in it. Most audiences are drawn to movies either by name actors in them or the big budget, and anime movies have neither.

 

[Vault101]

because Joane and Cleatus don't want to take the kids to some weird 2D aisan tenticle porn movie [footnote/]this is satire[/footnote]....not when "Despicable me how to train your shrek" is playing

Apart from Pokemon, most of the population in general don't know of or care about anime.

that was one of the very first movies I saw in cinemas....I had no idea what was going on...except Mew Two was very angry

 

[Colour Scientist]

As other people have said, they just wouldn't draw in the crowds.
On a site like this, there're a lot of anime fans but I know maybe one person in real life who would go if there was anime in theatres.

Apart from Pokemon, most of the population in general don't know of or care about anime.

 

[Julius Terrell]

because Joane and Cleatus don't want to take the kids to some weird 2D aisan tenticle porn movie [footnote/]this is satire[/footnote]....not when "Despicable me how to train your shrek" is playing

This is pretty funny!!! ROFL!!!

A part from this I get it. It reminds me of the fact that they're doing a "remake" of monster on HBO. Instead of just showing the original TV series they're making a live action version *shudders*. It sickens me that I live in such a close-minded society. Usually the anime movies that do get theater runs are usually just to draw kids in and to push merchandising. I guess it's better to be marginalized by society than to be a mindless zombie. -_-

 

[Crazy Zaul]

Because only a small % of people like anime and about 90% of them pirate it all. They have no reason to go pay $20 for it.

 

[Dr. Cakey]

There are theatrical releases and there are theatrical releases. Madoka Magica: Rebellion premiered in LA and was screened in theaters internationally, but in a limited run. None of the theaters in my state showed it, for example, but it showed in Boston and New York. A couple years prior, Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D: Bonds Beyond Time had a limited release, including in my state - though still a far cry from the full theatrical release Pyramid of Light got. FUNimation has utilized a system - I think it's called Tugg - to measure interest in specific areas to determine where to screen Summer Wars, among other films. And a lot of these films, such as the Eva Rebuilds, do get shown at film festivals. My copies of them, as well as Summer Wars are covered with festival awards.

All of these are theatrical releases, though, not theatrical releases. When people say "theatrical release", they mean showing at every theater in town, five or more times a day for several weeks. These are the 100-200 Hollywood action movies, comedies, and 3D animated films, plus one or two chick flicks and a handful of the previous year's Oscar contenders. In other words, only movies which count their revenue in the hundreds of millions go here. That's life.

 

[Scars Unseen]

*imagines parents taking their small kids to see Puella Magi Madoka Magica based on this poster*

Spoiler

*laughs*

 

[Vault101]

*imagines parents taking their small kids to see Puella Magi Madoka Magica based on this poster*

Spoiler

*laughs*

it happened for Pans Labyrnth

to their horror not only was it in subtitles but it WASN'T like the latest quirky Burton film...but in fact legitimatly terrifying and dark

 

[LittleBumble]

Snip

I will be honest... The fall out from that would be fascinating. To say the least.

OT: I know that some anime films get shown in theaters, as someone mentioned earlier the Madoka Magicka movie had a limited run. I've seen Funimation mention showings of Wolf Children in select theaters and the like. And I remember a good while back that one of the Bleach movies had a run in theaters through Fathom Events (They also had released the live action Death Note movie, not sure if it was subbed or dubbed though).

I agree that I wish we could have anime movies in theaters, I would LOVE to see Summer Wars in theaters. But it's at least perceived to be so niche as to not be proftiable. Still, maybe some will pick up enough steam to get theater releases or for it to be more common.

 

[shootthebandit]

Cultural differences I suppose. Pokemon became massive in the west because the series followed a hugely popular videogame/trading card game. You could say the same about yu-gi-oh

Anime just isnt popular in the west. It has a huge cult following but in the mainstream its just not popular. I would imagine with a bit more exposure it could become popular but theatres and production companies dont like making creative risks or change that would give it more exposure. Its a sort of catch 22

 

[Casual Shinji]

What anime movies are even being released these days that aren't based on some currently existing show? The big budget anime movie is kinda extinct. The last one (that wasn't by Ghibli) was Steamboy, and that was 10 years ago. I guess you could also count Redline, but that's one movie in that entire period.

OT: Culture clash. Anime is weird and strange in the eyes of western audiences. It's animated, but it's too violent for kids, and a lot of times it's too juvenile for adults (though Transformers seemingly got away with that). The only anime movies I've seen in theaters were Ghibli, and even those were shown at a place that specialized art films.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

They aren't that popular with the general populous so they would only get limited runs which as far as I'm aware anime licencing is fucking expensive [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-01-30/adv-court-documents-reveal-amounts-paid-for-29-anime-titles] so that is a massive deterrent. Even the ones that are popular to a large degree like Shounen have pretty terrible movies. I like some DBZ, Fairy Tail and co but their movies can be pretty shit on a spectacularly bad level.