“Captain Harlock” named best international animated feature at 3D Creative Arts Awards.
Full Info
The full-CG reboot of manga artist Leiji Matsumoto’s “Space Pirate Captain Harlock” was recognized as the best international animated feature at the fifth annual 3D Creative Arts Awards.
The awards ceremony, organized by the International 3D & Advanced Imaging Society, was held at Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles on Jan. 28.
“Present for You,” a stop-motion film also from Japan, won the award for the best international live-action feature film.
Alfonso Cuaron’s space drama “Gravity” garnered four top awards, including best live-action 3-D feature, while Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Frozen” received two prizes, including best animated 3-D feature.
Toei Animation Co. spent about $30 million in production costs for “Captain Harlock,” making it the anime studio’s most ambitious project yet. It was screened out of competition at the 70th Venice International Film Festival last year.
The anime film continues to do well at the box office in France and Italy.
It was released at 237 screens Dec. 25 in France with an opening day turnout of 44,929, a record-breaking figure for a Japanese film in the country. The number of screens subsequently increased to 255, and the movie earned more than $8.3 million at the box office and attracted over 700,000 moviegoers by Jan. 31.
“Captain Harlock” hit 260 Italian cinemas Jan. 1 before the screen number increased to 282. It went on to rake in about $6.8 million and attract more than 610,000 audience members by the end of January, making it the most successful Japanese film ever released in Italy.
According to Toei Animation, it has received offers from more than 80 countries and regions to distribute “Captain Harlock.”
The Blu-ray and DVD release of Space Captain Captain Harlock is slated for release in Japan on February 21.
[via The Asahi Shimbun ]