Shonen Jump's My Hero Academia is one of the most successful anime series of the current age, spawning a cultural zeitgeist rivaling that of Naruto, One Piece, and Attack on Titan. Now, Funimation, who recently released Demon Slayer: Mugen Train to record-breaking amounts of box office and fan engagement, has confirmed their plan to release the superhero comics-inspired Shonen Jump franchise's next feature film, My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission, in U.S. theaters later this year.
My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission will take the iconic Class 1-A students of U.A. Hero School all over the world, as a mysterious organization plants bombs in an effort to eradicate people with powers known as "quirks," an action that forces professional heroes and their interns to find the bombs and thwart the organization's plan. Because Two Heroes and Heroes Rising were both non-canonical in relation to author Kōhei Horikoshi's storyline, World Heroes' Mission is widely expected to follow in those films' footsteps and tell a story that is separate from the canon.
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Funimation has announced that they will release My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission in about 1,500 theaters within the US, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom on October 29th. This release follows the Japanese theatrical debut that happened this month, and it has so far grossed $18.74 million in that market. The film is supervised by author Kōhei Horikoshi and directed by Kenji Nagasaki, who directed the previous two My Hero Academia films.
Anime films based on well-known properties have become lucrative in the United States theatrical market over the last few years. Dragon Ball Super: Broly broke records upon its release in January 2019 and My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising reached #1 at the U.S. box office on its first day of release in February 2020. In addition, Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0: Thrice Upon A Time was released on streaming as an Amazon Prime exclusive and quickly amassed the highest number of launch-day streams for a film since Amazon Prime's streaming platform launched. Funimation is widely expected to release Toei Animation's next Dragon Ball film, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, in worldwide theaters sometime in the near future.
My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission may entice anime fans to see it in theaters, or it may underperform due to concerns surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But one thing is for sure: Funimation's commitment to releasing World Heroes' Mission in theaters is a sign that the cultural anime zeitgeist can only continue to surge from this point forward.
My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission releases in theaters on October 29th, 2021.
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Source: Funimation
