It’s a good time to be a fan of anime in Australia as three much anticipated features from Japan will be receiving theatrical screenings in select Australian cinemas later this year.

 

Madman Entertainment will be bringing Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’, Mamoru Hosoda’s The Boy and the Beast and the live-action blockbuster adaptation of Attack on Titan to cinema screens soon this year, essentially fast-tracking the films to Australian audiences after their original theatrical runs in Japan. Dates and venues have yet to be officially confirmed by the distributor though Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ is said to be releasing during the Winter season.

 

These announcements come off the back of Madman’s two previous theatrical screenings of The Last: Naruto the Movie and Parasyte: Part 1, which had also been fast-tracked to Australian audiences this year.

 

Madman’s Dean Prenc (who looks after Business & Licensing for anime) feels that by bringing these films in sooner rather than later, Australian audiences can enjoy talking about these films as much as the rest of the world.

 

“We recognise that the conversation around many of these films is global and that fans want to be a part of it. If we have the technology and we know the audience, why wait?”

 

Madman’s strategy to release its films as one-off niche screenings has proven successful for the distributor though it does place a question mark over the previously instated Reel Anime Festival, the company’s own mini anime film festival. The last time the festival was held was in 2013.

 

“The Reel Anime Festival is a victim of this approach. The biggest hurdle the festival faced was having four commercial films in the right place, at the right time. Waiting for those stars to align often meant we were bringing films out long after fans had hoped to have seen them in cinemas.”

 

Prenc admits that although releasing these films individually in select cinemas would be more costly for the company, it has also yielded positive results as “box-office results have generally been better” than their previous strategy of collectively screening films together.

 

When asked if there were plans for Madman to ever bring in other niche and cult Asian feature film titles to cinemas in the near future, Prenc said the company would “absolutely take the same approach with the right film – any film in fact”.

 

“The key point is speedy on-screen debuts are what viewers want.”

 

Stay tuned for more information on the theatrical screenings of Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’, The Boy and the Beast and Attack on Titan.