GKids has acquired Studio Ghibli’s library in the UK and Ireland, acquiring the theatrical, home video, television and digital rights to the Japanese animation studio’s entire catalog of 23 films.
GKids will kick off the new deal with an Imax theatrical release Kiki delivery service (1989) on August 21. Hayao Miyazaki’s second film follows the adventures of Kiki, a young witch who moves to the coastal city of Kuriku with her cat Gigi and starts a courier service.
Future Ghibli titles scheduled for the Imax treatment include works by Hiromasa Yonebayashi The Secret World of Arrietty (2010) and Yoshifumi Kondo The whisper of the heart (1995). GKids plans to release more new Studio Ghibli 4K Remasters titles in Imax and on physical media from Fall 2026 onwards.
GKids will also be doing a home video re-release of the entire Ghibli library – including Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning film Spirited away (2001) and THe is the boy and the heron (2023) and anime masterpieces Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), Princess Mononoke (1997), My neighbor Totoro (1988), Ponyo (2008), and Castle in the sky (1986) among many others.
GKids has long been the home of Studio Ghibli in North America, handling distribution across all platforms. The UK and Ireland deal, signed with global sales agent Goodfellas, excludes streaming rights licensed to Netflix outside North America and Japan.
“We promise fans in the UK and Ireland that we will look after the Ghibli catalogue, starting with the Imax release of Kiki delivery service this summer, and expanding from there across all home video and digital platforms,” said David Gested, President of GKids. “Our deepest thanks to our old friends at Goodfellas for entrusting us with these masterpieces and to everyone at Studio Ghibli for their continued trust and support.”
For the UK and Ireland releases, GKids will work closely with sister company Anime Limited, the Glasgow-based distributor recently acquired by GKids’ Japanese parent company Toho Global. The two companies have collaborated on many releases over the years, including mysterious (2021), Perfect blue (1997), and Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995). GKids and Anime Limited will also be handling Toho’s upcoming release Godzilla minus zero From director Takashi Yamazaki.
GKids’ Eric Beckman negotiated the Studio Ghibli deal with Vincent Maraval on Goodfellas.
