It’s probably not a hard sell getting big names to sign on for a Hayao Miyazaki movie. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of the legendary filmmaker’s Studio Ghibli legacy? No one is too famous for that. But even though we know that to be true, we’re still floored by the newly announced cast for the English-language dub of the iconic director’s upcoming The Boy and the Heron. It features some of Hollywood’s most popular and beloved stars, a list too impressive to pick only one or two to highlight.
GKIDS, which handles North American distribution for Studio Ghibli, has announced the cast for the English dub of The Boy and the Heron. (A film we here at Nerdist described as a “truly mesmerizing feat of animation.”) The list of voice performers—fittingly—speaks for itself. It includes: Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Gemma Chan, Willem Dafoe, Karen Fukuhara, Mark Hamill, Robert Pattinson, and Florence Pugh.
The film will also feature Luca Padovan, as well as Mamoudou Athie, Tony Revolori, and Dan Stevens as the Parakeets. Yeah, Dan Stevens is the last person they mentioned.
If you’re unfamiliar with the movie, which debuted at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, here’s its official synopsis:
A young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning. A semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship, from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.
Both the original Japanese and new English language versions will come to North American theaters on December 8. (Some special preview screenings will begin earlier on November 22.) Which version should you watch: the Japanese version or the English dub? Why choose when you have the perfect excuse to see a new Hayao Miyazaki movie twice? We doubt the biggest names in the industry would pass on that opportunity, either.
