Catch the 2023 Studio Ghibli Fest in Theaters Near You (2024)

Ever wanted to watch your favorite Studio Ghibli films on the big screen, where they were meant to be experienced? You can always watch the magical and heart-wrenching animated Ghibli classics on HBO Max, but for the rest of 2023, you can also watch them in select theaters near you.

GKIDS, the animation distributor responsible for bringing international films like Lu Over the Wall, Lupin III: The First, and The Secret of Kells to the States, is once again hosting Studio Ghibli Fest, a yearlong movie marathon in partnership with Fathom Events. This means that Ghibli Fest is coming to most Regal and Cinemark theaters, among others.

At least once a month from March to November, select theaters will host both subtitled and dubbed showings of one of ten classic Ghibli films from director Hayao Miyazaki.

The festival will culminate in the newest Ghibli film,The Boy and the Heron, on December 8.

Keep reading for the full Studio Ghibli Fest schedule.

For the first time ever, Spirited Away is coming to the stage, and you can immerse yourself in the magic from the comfort of your local movie theater. Like the original 2001 film, Spirited Away: Live on Stage follows Chihiro, a young girl separated from her parents while on vacation. She ends up in a mysterious and often scary world of spirits who live in an abandoned amusem*nt park in the countryside.

Unlike the rest of the films, Spirited Away: Live on Stage isn’t available anywhere for streaming, so fans won’t want to miss this two-day event.

Can you believe 2023 marks Ponyo’s 15th anniversary already? Personally, it feels like just yesterday that I was watching Frankie Jonas and Noah Cyrus sing “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea” on the Disney Channel.

Ponyo is a Little Mermaid reimagining about a young fishy princess who wants to become a little girl. She befriends a human boy and discovers the wonders of the surface world, including some delicious ham and hot ramen noodles.

Nausicaä is super underrated, and this writer’s personal favorite Ghibli film. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where much of the planet has become inhospitable from ecological toxins. Princess Nausicaä must connect with the giant, dangerous creatures known as Ohms in order to bring peace to her world.

Also—and I’m just learning this now—the English dub features Mark Hamill, Shia LaBeouf, and Patrick Stewart.

Castle in the Sky was Studio Ghibli’s first film, released in 1986, and is about two children in the late 19th century on the run from their government and a band of air pirates. They search for the titular floating castle in the sky in an effort to prevent a magical crystal from falling into the wrong hands.

Miyazaki loves including big magical castles and flying things in his films, but if you were curious, this doesn’t have anything to do with Howl’s Moving Castle.

Ghibli fans are in for a treat this December, because rounding out the Ghibli Fest lineup is a brand new Ghibli film, coming to the US for the first time. Originally titled How Do You Live?, the movie’s plot has been shrouded in secrecy, and Japanese audiences saw the film with no trailers or other promotional materials.

We have a bit more information for the US release, but continue at your own peril; you might want to see the movie sans spoilers!