Crunchyroll Brings Reincarnated as a Slime Movie to North American Theaters
Crunchyroll is using a coordinated streaming and theatrical calendar for the Slime franchise, releasing season four on April 3 and the new film on May 1, with a re-release of the prior movie and a sneak peek in between, to turn a single franchise into a sustained multi-week event.
Reporting from 1 sources: Cartoon Brew.
Crunchyroll will release That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea in U.S. and Canadian theaters on May 1, the company announced. The film, distributed with Sony Pictures Entertainment, will screen in Japanese with English subtitles and with an English dub. It is a standalone side story set after season three of the anime series, following Rimuru Tempest and his companions on a vacation that turns into a supernatural conflict. Yasuhito Kikuchi directed the film, with animation by Eightbit, the studio behind the TV series. To build momentum, Crunchyroll will re-release the previous film, Scarlet Bond, on April 20 as part of its Anime Nights program, paired with a 10-minute sneak peek of the new movie. The theatrical rollout comes just weeks after season four of the series premieres on Crunchyroll on April 3, showing the company coordinating its streaming and theatrical schedules rather than treating them as separate operations.
The film Tears of the Azure Sea is a new entry in the That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime franchise, directed by Yasuhito Kikuchi and animated by Eightbit. Crunchyroll announced the North American theatrical release for May 1, with distribution through Sony Pictures Entertainment. The movie will be available in both subtitled and dubbed formats. It is described as a standalone side story that takes place after the events of season three, centering on Rimuru Tempest and his group during a resort vacation that leads to a supernatural encounter.
Crunchyroll is using its Anime Nights program to promote the release. On April 20, the company will re-release the previous film, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Scarlet Bond, for a single night in theaters. That screening will include an exclusive 10-minute preview of Tears of the Azure Sea. The timing connects the theatrical push to the streaming calendar: season four of the anime series premieres on Crunchyroll on April 3, roughly a month before the film opens. The company has previously used similar multi-platform strategies for franchise films like Jujutsu Kaisen 0 and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.