Gkids Sets Two-Night Nationwide Release For Anime ‘The End Of Evangelion’

Gkids announced on Wednesday that it will soon be bringing The End of Evangelion, the feature follow-up to Hideaki Anno’s influential anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, to North American theaters for the first time. The film will be screened in its original Japanese language with English subtitles, bowing in select theaters nationwide on March 17th and 20th.

Premiering in Japan in 1995, Neon Genesis Evangelion follows the story of Shinji Ikari, a reluctant teenager who is recruited by the shadowy organization NERV to pilot a giant bio-mechanical robot called an Evangelion to defend Tokyo-3 from monstrous beings known as Angels. As Shinji grapples with his complex relationships with his distant father, Gendo, and his enigmatic fellow pilots, Rei and Asuka, he is forced to confront his own fears, insecurities, and the existential questions raised by the apocalyptic battles he faces.

The End of Evangelion was originally released in 1997, as an alternative ending to the series, remaking its final two episodes.

Gkids first took to North America two years ago with Blu-ray and digital download-to-own versions of the full 26-episode series, as well as the associated films EVANGELION:DEATH (TRUE)2 and THE END OF EVANGELION. The company also handles North American distribution for Anno’s prior series NADIA: The Secret of Blue Water.

A producer and distributor of award-winning and artist-driven animation, Gkids has notched a total of 13 Animated Feature Oscar nominations since its founding in 2008, most recently doing so just this year with Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron. In addition to Anno’s series and related projects, the company handles North American distribution for the famed Studio Ghibli library and runs the annual L.A.-based film festival Animation Is Film.