Shout! Studios Announce Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning Home Release
If you were a kid in the 90's there were lots of entertainment rivalries. Were you Nintendo or Sega, Sonic The Hedgehog or Mario or Pokemon or Digimon? The latter two are still going strong but have taken different approaches. Pokemon has essentially stayed the same throughout the years while Digimon has allowed its characters to grow with its audience, and new films such as the Digmon Adventure Tri series have featured grown versions of the DigiDestined. 2023 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Digimon franchise
Shout! Studios and Toei Animation have announced a home entertainment distribution deal for the latest film in the franchise Digimon Adventure 02 The Begining. The 2023 film is based on the original 2000 Digimon Adventure 02 television series, and was released in cinemas across the world last year, including a 2-day engagement in the US and Canada.
The multi-year deal gives Shout Studios home entertainment distribution rights for cross-platform release in the US and Canada across all physical media and digital. The distributor plans a strategic rollout of the film across multiple entertainment platforms and formats throughout 2024. The deal was signed by today by Melissa Boag, Shout! Studios’ Executive Vice President, and Masayuki Endo, President and CEO of Toei Animation Inc.
"We are delighted by this new opportunity with Toei Animation and excited by this contemporary story of the DigiDestined from Digimon Adventure 02," said Melissa Boag, "Over the years, we enjoyed tremendous success with Digimon Adventure tri. film series and Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna. We look forward to presenting Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning to anime fans and families through home entertainment very soon."
"Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning was a hit with franchise fans around the world and we’re thrilled to bring it to homes across North America through this partnership with Shout! Studios," said Masayuki Endo. "Today’s news is one of many exciting things planned during 2024 as part of Toei Animation’s year-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of Digimon."
Produced by Toei Animation, Digimon Adventure 02 The Movie is a continuation of the original 2000 TV series featuring the DigiDestined at the age of 20. The film is directed by Tomohisa Taguchi with a script penned by Akatsuki Yamatoya- the same team responsible for the most recent film Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna.
The home entertainment release will feature a new English dub produced by Toei for the theatrical screenings. Brian Donovan original voice of Daisuke Motomiya in the TV series returns, along with a mix of Digimon veterans and talented newcomers including Jeannie Tirado (My Hero Academia), Bryce Papenbrook (Digimon Adventure), Tara Sands (Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna), Johnny Yong Bosch (Digimon Adventure tri.), Derek Stephen Prince (Digimon Adventure 02) and more
Further details of the release will be revealed later in 2024.
