The First Teaser for Mamoru Hosoda’s Scarlet Promises Flashing Blades and Epic Adventure

Just a day after Sony announced a stateside release date for animated fantasy Scarlet—the latest from Oscar-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda (Mirai, Belle, The Boy and the Beast, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars)—we now have the first teaser, a bit of marketing aimed more at the hometown audience. That said, you don’t need to read Japanese to take in the gorgeous visuals:

According to Variety, Scarlet “centers on a brave princess who transcends time and space,” and from the looks of it is mighty adept with a blade to boot.

Hosoda’s first feature directing credit was 2000’s Digimon: The Movie; in 2019, his Mirai picked up an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature but lost to Spider Man: Into the Spider-Verse. His 2021 release, Belle, was a critical smash worldwide, in addition to being the third-highest-grossing Japanese film that year.

Variety notes that Scarlet is the first collaboration between Sony Pictures and Studio CHIZU, which was co-founded by Hosoda in 2011; Sony co-produced and co-financed the film alongside Studio CHIZU and Nippon TV. While Toho will put out the film in Japan, Sony is bringing it to a worldwide release.

Scarlet hits U.S. theaters December 12.

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