The Boy and the Heron streaming release date is highly anticipated, and viewers are wondering when they can start streaming the anime film.
Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, The Boy and the Heron is a fantasy anime film. It was initially slated to be Miyazaki’s last film, but the legendary auteur has since decided to continue working. The film won the Best Animated Feature accolade at the 96th Academy Awards. This is the second Oscar in the same category for Miyazaki and the production company Studio Ghibli since Spirited Away (2001). Here’s when The Boy and the Heron could be coming out.
When is the predicted The Boy and the Heron streaming release date?
The Boy and the Heron release date could be June 2024 or later.
The Boy and the Heron premiered under the title Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka (How Do You Live?) in Japan on July 14, 2023. Although the film shares its original name with Genzaburō Yoshino’s 1937 namesake novel, the former is an original story that Miyazaki penned. The Boy and the Heron is the film’s international title.
GKIDS acquired the film’s North American distribution rights and released it in US theaters on IMAX on December 8, 2024. The film’s exact streaming release date is currently unavailable. However, if it follows the typical 90-day intermediate period from theater to streaming norm, it can potentially debut on a streaming service in June 2024 or later.
Set during World War II, the plot revolves around a young boy named Mahito. After Mahito’s mother’s death, his father marries her sister and relocates the family to the countryside. Mahito encounters a grey heron that promises him a reunion with his mother.
The Japanese voice cast includes Soma Santoki as Mahito Maki, Masaki Suda as The Grey Heron, Yoshino Kimura as Natsuko, Takuya Kimura as Shoichi Maki, Kaoru Kobayashi as Noble Pelican, and more.
Is The Boy and the Heron coming out on HBO Max?
The Boy and the Heron could be available to watch via streaming on HBO Max.
In the US, HBO Max is generally the home of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli projects. So, there is a considerable chance for The Boy and the Hero to make its streaming debut on the said platform.
Current HBO Max subscribers should be able to watch the film when it airs. The platform has three options that the viewers can select from. The cost of the first one is $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year (with ads), the second is $15.99 a month or $149.99 a year (ad-free), and the third is $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year (ultimate ad-free).
The Boy and the Heron official synopsis reads:
“While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother’s tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy’s mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the ‘long-awaited one.'”
For more The Boy and the Heron updates, check out The Boy and the Heron Review: A Mixed Studio Ghibli Effort. Also, The Boy and the Heron Soundtrack Previewed by Joe Hisaishi.
