Two Studio Ghibli classics are coming back to UK and Irish cinemas.
It's been announced that the Oscar-winning Spirited Away and Oscar-nominated Howl's Moving Castle, both directed by the legendary Hayao Miyazaki, will be displayed in all their majesty on the big screen soon.
First up, Spirited Away. The film, which follows a girl named Chihiro as she enters a world of fantastical beings and must learn to become self-sufficient to survive, will be screened from December 26.
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Howl's Moving Castle, about a cursed woman who finds herself working for an emotionally unstable wizard as the world gears up for war, follows on April 11, 2025.
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Elysian Film Group is behind these UK and Irish re-releases, having previously brought The Boy and the Heron and the My Neighbour Totoro re-release to the big screen over the last year.
Seeing as those films had screenings for both the English dubbed and Japanese subbed versions, it's expected that Spirited Away and Howl's will follow suit. Produced by Disney, the two films' dubs feature some notable actors who provide the voices.
Spirited Away features voice work from Hercules' Meg (Susan Egan), Beauty and the Beast's Cogsworth (David Ogden Stiers), and Toy Story's Hamm (John Ratzenberger). Meanwhile, Howl's has big names like Christian Bale, Emily Mortimer, and a young Josh Hutcherson on voice acting duties.
Related: 6 best anime movies on Netflix that are not from Studio Ghibli
Last year, Miyazaki's longtime producing partner Toshio Suzuki confirmed that the never-retiring filmmaker is already working on his next project despite The Boy and the Heron apparently being his final movie.
"He's constantly thinking about his next project. I can't stop him, in fact, I've given up," Suzuki explained.
Spirited Away is released in UK and Irish cinemas on December 26 and Howl's Moving Castle is released in UK cinemas on April 11, 2025.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
