Studio Ghibli fans anticipating the renowned animation studio’s next installment, “How Do You Live?”, might have been concerned given the studio’s radio silence on the film.
In a recent interview with Bungei Shunju publication, producer Toshio Suzuki reveals the lack of publicity was intentional.
According to the interview, the decision to do so came after the first poster was made.
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“This was the first time Miyazaki-san praised a poster,” said Suzuki, who’s been working with Miyazaki for decades. "And I took that as a hint – Let’s go with just this.”
Suzuki also added that, after promoting their movies the same ways for decades, they wanted to try a different approach.
By doing so, the studio hopes that viewers will watch “How Do You Live?” with no expectations and foreknowledge of the movie – the only available official information about the movie is the title and the poster.
Film producer Toshio Suzuki in an interview with Bungei Shunju editor Manabu Shintani. Source: Bungei Shunju Youtube
He then talked about how Hollywood filmmakers end up revealing the plots of their movies in their trailers, and he worries doing so might end up ruining the mystery of the movies and dissuading viewers from watching them.
“How Do You Want To Live?” is slated for a July release in Japan, though no international release date has been announced yet.
This is supposedly Miyazaki’s last movie, though the director is famous for announcing his retirement only to make another movie months later.
Top images from Ghibli's Twitter and Wikipedia