Toho Acquires GKids

[Benjamin Haines]

Deadline reports that Toho is acquiring GKids, the longtime North American distributor of Studio Ghibli's animated films.

https://deadline.com/2024/10/gkids-godzilla-minus-one-hiyao-miyazaki-acquired-by-toho-japan-1236116745/

This is the key bit: "Gkids adds to Toho an established and well-regarded North American theatrical and home entertainment distribution, marketing, and sales operation. Those assets are intended to complement the licensing, merchandising and e-commerce operations of its Toho International banner."

After Toho distributed their latest Godzilla movie in North America themselves for the first time with Minus One, this seems to firmly close the book on the era when Toho needed to rely on North American distributors to license their films. GKids will soon become Toho's own North American distribution apparatus.

[lhb412]

Wow! The potential here for Toho is enormous... but I sure hope it doesn't interfere with GKIDS project of acquiring and distributing all sorts of animated properties from many countries and studios.

[Benjamin Haines]

^ I don't think that will happen. This isn't a case of a company absorbing a competitor within the same sphere, like when Disney bought 20th Century Fox. Toho and GKids work in different spheres and they have the potential to really complement each other. GKids will open new doors for Toho as their North American distribution subsidiary but Toho also stands to profit from being the corporate parent of GKids' long-running operation. If anything, I think this acquisition might bode well for more of the animated films that GKids licenses from other countries getting released in Japan through Toho.

[lhb412]

^ I certainly hope you're right!