I had a nice walk today in a forest area near my home and found a lake there too. It made me think of Eva.

Now that FINALs release stays open again for now, I don't feel bad about it at all.

Therefore I can wait further with the right conscience that I'll still see it after the pandemic is over.

Is it of any use trying to speculate when the movie might actually get released? 3 months later? 5? Of course this all depends on how the pandemic plays out in Japan and elsewhere (since Eva is similarly big elsewhere in Asia)... and then you have the risk of a second wave. Could be next year for all we know. I just hope this might magically allow the movie to get more than the two hours it was allowed.

DarkBluePhoenix wrote:
Here's a list of films that have been pushed back from their original release dates which adds to my own suspicion that a delay is possible, especially if other films are getting pushed back (like No Time to Die and Black Widow) I don't think they'd want to compete with juggernauts like that if they can avoid it.

The situation with 3.0 +1.0 probably shouldn't be compared with major Hollywood releases. Major Western releases with 150-200m dollar production (and equally large marketing) budgets need to be near simultaneously released in dozens of countries in thousands of theatres, with huge opening weekends required to break even. Logistically you can see how in a time of a pandemic this is an organisational nightmare, with major studios having 'release slates' blocked out years in advance.

Everything about Eva's planned release has been Japan centred and will likely depend solely on conditions there. A good comparison (other than the previous Rebuild releases) would be Shin Godzilla, which as a Toho flagship release came out in about 350 cinemas on 450 screens and grossed about 80m dollars, something like 98% of which was made in Japan. For comparison in the US domestic market a major release will play on more screens than exist in the entirety of Japan. The Japanese domestic box office is also a bit more balanced, with western films tending to come out a few months later than their world wide releases, meaning the key summer and Christmas release windows aren't dominated by Hollywood films.

^
I still hope that this unprecedented situation might change things up a little... like with the movie almost finished, maybe they have time to figure out a little sooner world wide release.

They'll have time for Dan to do subtitles for the BD release, for sure - whether they will or not, who knows? But markets and marketing have changed a lot since Rebuild started. And after all, the new announcement has a line which says (Google translate, I think):

"We will work on the production so we that can deliver the movie to all over the world"

Khara being so forward thinking & always having an in-house English language poster coming out the same time as the domestic Japanese one throughout production is a positive sign they've had some kind of plan in mind for a speedy international release whenever they can put the film in theaters.

Mh, especially compared to back in 2011 with Eva Q's release, I think we'll easily get Shin Eva quickly in the West after the Japanese theatrical release.

Lacissal wrote: Everything about Eva's planned release has been Japan centred and will likely depend solely on conditions there.

This is not true. I am close to the organisers of Japan Expo (one of the biggest Anime Conventions in the world held in Paris each year) and they have been working alongside Khara for years and had a whole dedicated department to have the world premier of the movie shown at Japan Expo. It is most likely that just like the AVANT preview of 2019 they were planning to do a screening at Anime Expo which takes place around the same time usually.
It is to be expected that the movie will be delayed to Summer 2021 with a World premier at Japan Expo and AX

∆ Please no.

There's no guarantee screenings will be possible. I really don't want to see this whole deal repeat itself.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing a late Fall release such as in November or December. Though I wouldn't be surprised if, to my chagrin, it's pushed all the way back to Summer 2021 all because of the Olympics.

fullfrontal.moe wrote: a whole dedicated department to have the world premier of the movie shown at Japan Expo. It is most likely that just like the AVANT preview of 2019 they were planning to do a screening at Anime Expo which takes place around the same time usually.
It is to be expected that the movie will be delayed to Summer 2021 with a World premier at Japan Expo and AX

Japan Expo was scheduled for 2-5 July, a week after Final was to be released in Japan. (unless at Japan Expo do they do 'pre-events' where it could have premiered, like at E3 does for games?) Obviously that's astronomically sooner for a screening overseas than the 8 or so month gap between 3.0 being released at it's first screenings at cons abroad. Given the exceptional nature of circumstances right now, it would be surprising if a feasible domestic Japanese release (where it's likely to make 98% of it's box office earnings) where postponed nearly a year for a convention that can't be guaranteed to be held in 2021 if public health issues persist.

fullfrontal.moe wrote:It is to be expected that the movie will be delayed to Summer 2021 with a World premier at Japan Expo and AX

Well, look at that, sounds good to me - at least they had a plan for worldwide release! Sadly I don't speak French, so I would need to go to America to understand the subtitles, ironically, lol.

Waiting a full year for some conventions that may or may not happen is a big gamble. I was at Japan Expo last year for AVANT1 and the whol event is so crowded and international I can't see it happening unless the entire world has been vaccinated for COVID-19.

Lacissal wrote:Japan Expo was scheduled for 2-5 July, a week after Final was to be released in Japan. (unless at Japan Expo do they do 'pre-events' where it could have premiered, like at E3 does for games?) Obviously that's astronomically sooner for a screening overseas than the 8 or so month gap between 3.0 being released at it's first screenings at cons abroad. Given the exceptional nature of circumstances right now, it would be surprising if a feasible domestic Japanese release (where it's likely to make 98% of it's box office earnings) where postponed nearly a year for a convention that can't be guaranteed to be held in 2021 if public health issues persist.

It was indeed foreseen to be previewed during Japan Expo, by world premiere I meant overseas premiere my choice if words might not have been the wisest.
I think many people underestimate the importance the overseas communication and presence is to the eyes of Khara. Anno has stressed the importance of making sure the name of Khara is known worldwide several times and so did Mahiro Maeda when I met him.
I probably am already disclosing way too much as I am to begin with not even supposed to know such information, and I obviously don't know the precise details of Khara's contracts with Japan Expo but I am positive that we're talking about big sums of money regarding the promotional event and movie premiere.
I have a hard time imagining the contracts with Japan Expo and AX being just thrown out of the video, and I personally have a hard time seeing TOHO releasing the movie in Japan and waiting 6 to 8 month for the western premieres when they were going for a near simultaneous release, especially with internet and piracy today. There's no other events which would be able to replace Japan Expo and AX.
Obviously these are only my thoughts based on the information that I have available to me of what's most probable.

But if I may add another piece supporting this theory of the movie being delayed to summer 2021, I had posted about it on Twitter and it was liked by Emmanuel Bochew. Emmanuel Bochew is a French translator who has been working closely with Khara for a while, accompanying several guests sent by Khara and he was the host of the summer 2019 AVANT premier of Shin Evangelion (even though this event was held at Japan Expo and broadcasted worldwide I know that Emmanuel was contracted by Khara and not Japan Expo for this)
Obviously I can't be a 100% sure that he knows more then us about the situation, but the fact that he showed a sign of approval of the theory is not to be taken lightly.

I am sorry if I have a hard time conveying what I want to say properly as I am exhausted and English isn't my first language, I hope that it is still clear enough to understand my reasoning.

EDIT: As of this day it is assumed that Japan Expo 2021 will take place. Until a week ago and Emmanuel Macron's speach saying that no events would be able to take place before end of August the organising team of Japan Expo was still going as if it would take place. As of today it is more probable that Japan Expo will take place than not, at least this is how things are seen on the inside.

fullfrontal.moe wrote:I am sorry if I have a hard time conveying what I want to say properly as I am exhausted and English isn't my first language, I hope that it is still clear enough to understand my reasoning.

That's more than ok, I wouldn't be able to write a single coherent sentence in another language! I was worried that my response came across as a bit antagonistic.

fullfrontal.moe wrote:I have a hard time imagining the contracts with Japan Expo and AX being just thrown out of the video, and I personally have a hard time seeing TOHO releasing the movie in Japan and waiting 6 to 8 month for the western premieres when they were going for a near simultaneous release, especially with internet and piracy today. There's no other events which would be able to replace Japan Expo and AX.

Even without the Covid 19 situation, a domestic Japanese release in cinemas with simultaneous international screenings at Conventions and film festivals probably wouldn't affect people watching the film online- the large amount of people interested in Eva and this film vs the relatively small number able to actually attend screenings at anime conventions meant that it was inevitable most people outside Japan would end up watching it online. If the film had been released on the 27th, it probably would be online in a cam rip before Japan Expo and AX even opened a week later.

I'm not a lawyer but most contracts must have cancellation clauses- it's equally hard to see Toho and Toei-as the distributors and with their own cinema chains in Japan, would have their hands tied with a lucrative domestic release being legally blocked by a contract for an convention or that the money from the convention would surpass a fraction of domestic box office gross. As cool as it is that khara want to have near simultaneous screenings, a global pandemic changes things drastically. With some other countries in Europe like Germany, Austria and Denmark beginning to ease restrictions it will be interesting to see how cinema attendance is and what form it takes. With social distancing, contact tracing, virus screening and face masks/hand sanitising becoming routine, a domestic release in a few hundred cinemas (for wondering what 3.0 + 1.0's release would look like, I'm going off the releases of Shin Godzilla, Your Name and Weathering with You, all distributed by Toho) might be far less risky than a convention where 250,000 people cycle in and out over a few days. Even with Macron's assuarances, in the best case scenario of a vaccine being developed and mass production being viable by early next year, mass gathering like that might still have to be considered as 'tentative'- on the BBC news the other day they were saying that even the Olympics being held in 2021 shouldn't be taken as definite unless a vaccine comes along. At the end of the day it might be Toho and Toei's wishes that overrule khara's.

Lacissal wrote:At the end of the day it might be Toho and Toei's wishes that overrule khara's.

Yeah, Khara can put forth ideas, recommendations and wants for how/when the movie is released but the final decision is up to Toho & Toei who fit the film into their release schedules.
Runtime aside, they seem to have given Anno & his team free reign to do whatever they want creatively but the way the business works is the release date is ultimately decided by the distributors.

I wouldn't speculate on who has the final say, unless you have seen the contracts.

For what it's worth, in the recent staff release khara is listed alongside Toei and Toho as distributor. And they alone handle advertising apparently.

Joseki wrote:I wouldn't speculate on who has the final say, unless you have seen the contracts.

Smaller production studios or directors giving orders to distributors it a wild exception, and not the norm. Usually something like that results in legendary conflicts such as the one between Terry Gilliam and the distributors of Brazil, or Ridley Scott and his many versions of Blade Runner. Either way, word tends to get out if the system is upended on that scale.

Disney owns their methods of distribution (but to far not the theatrical outlets themselves), so of course they make the exception to their own rules whenever they want.

I have no qualms with the film being delayed as it temporarily stall what will be the beginning of the end of Evangelion.