The critically acclaimed stage adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki's animated movie Spirited Away is coming to Max in December.

The surprise announcement came via the official press release by Max for the arrivals and departures in December 2023, which you can find here. Among the new releases, we can see Spirited Away: Live On Stage (also available on Blu-ray) dropping on December 24, just in time for Christmas.

The adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award-winning animated feature was brought to life by Tony Award-winner John Caird (Les Misérables), and this GKIDS release was filmed during the production's stellar 2022 run at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo. The announcement was also shared on the streamer's social channels.

You can watch the trailer for Spirited Away: Live On Stage below:

The stunning production was played by two different casts, and the domestic release was shot with the first set of actors, which includes Kanna Hashimoto (Chihiro), Kotaro Daigo (Haku), Koharu Sugawara (No Face), Miyu Sakihi (Lin/Chihiro's mother), and Tomorowo Taguchi (Kamajî), among others. It was adapted and directed by John Caird and co-adapted by Maoko Imai. The original score was handled by Joe Hisaishi, who also worked on the original movie.

Spirited Away tells the story of Chihiro Ogino, a 10-year-old girl who moves to a new neighborhood and enters the world of the kami (spirits of Japanese Shinto folklore). Her parents are turned into pigs by the witch Yubaba, so Chihiro begins working in Yubaba's bathhouse to find a way to free herself and her parents and return to the human world. The 2001 movie received universal acclaim and grossed $395.8 million at the worldwide box office, and also became the highest-grossing movie in Japanese history with a total $305 million, a record it held for 19 years until it was surpassed by Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train in 2020.

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