Hayao Miyazaki's Final Film to Be Released With No Trailers or Promotional Material

It has been revealed that Hayao Miyazaki's upcoming and, apparently, last film, How Do You Live?, will hit the screens without any trailer, marketing campaigns, or additional promotional materials.

According to reports, Miyazaki has been working on the film since 2016. In a 2017 interview, he shared some insights about the project. Back then, he described it as "a grand fantasy" that draws inspiration, although doesn't directly adapt, Genzaburo Yoshino's 1937 novel by the same name. The novel explores the emotional and philosophical journey of a young boy after the passing of his father, serving as a tale of personal growth and coming of age.

In December, Studio Ghibli released a single poster for the movie, showcasing a sketch portraying a creature resembling a bird. However, no further details or previews have been disclosed since then. And it turns out that the absence of any marketing efforts for the movie will continue until its theatrical premiere on July 14.

During an interview with the Japanese magazine Bungei Shunju, translated by the Hollywood Reporter, producer Toshio Suzuki discussed the studio's choice to refrain from advertising the film ahead of its release, explaining that Ghibli aimed to deviate from the conventional marketing approaches.

"As part of company operations, over the years Ghibli has wanted people to come see the movies we’ve made. So we’ve thought about that and done a lot of different things for that purpose – but this time we were like, 'Eh, we don’t need to do that,'" he said. "Doing the same thing you’ve done before, over and over, you get tired of it. So we wanted to do something different."

Suzuki added that people are currently loaded with information, including details about upcoming movies. According to him, this excessive information takes away the true enjoyment and surprise that comes from experiencing a film firsthand. He even noted that some people watch a movie primarily to confirm what they already know from the extensive promotional material.

Suzuki acknowledged that the release strategy that involves sharing numerous promotional materials can have some potential advantages, however, he admitted that Miyazaki's overwhelmingly positive response to the poster was the decisive factor in moving forward with using it as the sole marketing material for the film.

"I’ve been involved with our movies since Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), but this was the first time Hayao Miyazaki genuinely praised me," Suzuki shared. "'Suzuki-san, this is amazing. This is the best poster you’ve ever made,' he said. I felt like that was a hint, so I decided 'Let’s go with just this one poster for the marketing.' So, no trailers or TV commercials at all … No newspaper ads either."

How Do You Live? is scheduled for release in Japan on July 14, although an international release date for the film has not been announced yet.

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